Bleeding Love
by teamhannily
Summary: Trying a new pairing; Emily/Alison. Will Alison ever come to terms with how she feels about Emily? Is she willing to give up her 'Queen Bee' status just to be with her? Rated M for future content.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

She walked to class through the empty school halls, of course being late as per to her least favourite class - English. Alison never understood the purpose of studying Romeo and Juliet. The book was hundreds of years old and the language in the book was never spoken these days so why the hell should anyone care about it? She reached for the handle and twisted it and entered the classroom with all eyes on her.

"Alison. How nice of you to join us. Take your seat," Mr. Fitz greeted with a hint of sarcasm. With Alison usually being late, he doesn't bother to ask for an explanation as to why she's late anymore.

Alison shot her signature smile at Mr. Fitz and walked to her seat at the top right corner of the class, beside Hanna and in front sat Mona Vanderwaal. She sat her bag carefully down beside her chair and bent over to take out the copy of Romeo and Juliet with a sigh. Once she was organised, she turned her head over to _her_ direction. The one who made her heart race just a little faster whenever near her. She caught Emily's eye as she turned around, giving her a small smile and turned back to focus on the lesson. Her smile was definitely one of her best features, the way her lips curled up made Alison's heart melt and could probably have the same effect on many others. These feelings started when Emily and her had gotten closer over summer when it was just the two of them who spent most of it together with Hanna being at Fat Camp and Aria in Iceland. They did spend some time with Spencer but most days she was busy with activities which would increase her chance of getting into UPenn, her dream college. It started shortly after Emily had just come out and how they would 'practice' kissing together. The more they kissed, the more Alison enjoyed it. The fullness and softness of Emily's lips made her crave Emily more. It was much better and different than kissing a guy, who usually kissed too roughly or just didn't know how to properly kiss. Not to mention their lips were never as soft as Emily's. It wasn't until Emily decided to tease her one day about how she secretly enjoyed kissing Emily, only for Alison to shoot her down.

"Trust me, if I'm kissing you, it's because it's practice for the real thing."

One thing Alison would never admit is that the practice is much better than the real thing. Her and Emily remained close and still kissed, despite what Alison thought. This only led to Emily falling for her even harder, doing the same to Alison although she would never admit to herself. The only difference was that Alison knew how Emily felt towards her.

Once Alison realised she was thinking about Emily in that way again, she mentally slapped herself and rubbed her temples. There's no way that the Queen Bee could have fallen for another girl, right? Alison on a daily basis tries to convince herself that she loves boys. She even sleeps with them just to prove to herself that she does love them but in the moment, she can't help but wish it was Emily who she was pleasuring or vice versa. Alison knows how Emily feels about her, she has her wrapped around her finger and knows she will always probably have this effect on her. Neither of them could stay mad at each other for long and Emily always stood up for Ali, no matter what the situation. Even if it was coming from any of the other girls, Emily would always take Alison's side and that was only one of the many reason's Ali loved her.

* * *

Alison lay on the grass, soaking up all the sun she could get in this hot summers day reading a book. She was so concentrated on the book she hadn't noticed the tall figure standing in front of her, shading her face from the sun.

"Hey, you." Emily smiled.

Alison jumped at the sound of Emily's voice and pulled the book away from her face.

"Oh hey, killer." Alison greeted.

"What are you reading?" Emily asked as she sat beside Alison.

"Great Expectations. Want me to read it to you?"

Emily nodded for Alison to proceed.

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Did you get to that part yet?"

Emily nodded and smiled in response as Alison closed the book. Emily leaned in and pressed her lips against Alison's for a few seconds and pulled away, looking into her eyes. Although she knew Alison would never feel the same, she could still wish. What she didn't know that Alison's heart rate increased to an abnormal speed from the contact. With her being the great actress that she is, she smiled sweetly at Emily as if it meant nothing to her.

"It's hot today." Alison moaned as she stood up to make her way indoors. Emily followed behind her like a lost puppy. "Juice?"

Emily nodded and watched Alison grab the orange juice from the fridge. She couldn't help but admire her figure as Alison tiptoed to reach the glasses in the overhead cupboard, revealing the tattoo on her waist, something written in Chinese Emily couldn't understand but whenever she asked Alison what it meant, she would never say. She also couldn't help but notice how tanned her body looked from sunbathing in her bikini for the past few days. Emily quickly snapped out of her trance when she heard the sound of the glass hitting the worktop. As Alison poured the juice into one of the cups, Emily approached her from behind kissed her neck as she did so. Alison closed her eyes at the contact, loving the warmth of Emily's lips on her flesh skin. Alison quickly sat the juice back on the worktop and turned to face Emily, who now just stood staring at her, fearing she would be mad. What she completely unexpected was Alison's next move. Alison forcefully connected their lips and hungrily kissed Emily. When Emily finally processed what was happening, she began to respond to the kiss just as eager. They kissed for several minutes as Alison wrapped her arms around Emily's neck, pulling her impossibly closer until they both needed a breath of air. Emily looked Alison straight in the eye, confused by her actions.

"This doesn't mean anything, okay? Speak a word of this and you'll regret it." Alison warned her sternly.

Emily was too speechless to speak and before she even had time to respond, Alison had crashed their lips back together. Alison was becoming more aroused by the second as they kissed which lead to her next move. She broke the kiss for a brief moment, searching Emily's face and saw nothing but lust. They reconnected their lips once again and Alison run her hands down Emily's sides but only to have them be quickly pushed back up to her neck. Alison took this as an opportunity to jump up into Emily's hands and did so. She wrapped her legs around Emily's waist as Emily caught grip of her without breaking the kiss.

"Upstairs." Alison mumbled against Emily's lips.

Emily almost couldn't believe what was really happening here but immediately obliged. She made her way upstairs with Alison still wrapped around her waist, kissing her deeply. Once she approached Alison's room, she nudged the door open with her foot and made her way towards the bed, careful not to trip over anything. She broke the kiss to lay Alison down on the bed and crawled over on top of her, watching her as she breathed unevenly.

"Remember. This means nothing."

The words broke Emily's heart because she knew none of this would mean anything to Alison. She knew this was just another way for Alison to play with her feelings but she couldn't find the power to reject her, she was drunk on Alison. Before Alison changed her mind, Emily hovered over and leaned down to kiss her gently. Alison cupped both Emily's cheeks with her hands, enjoying the gentleness of Emily's kiss. She switched positions with Emily so she was now the one on top and began to leave a trail of kisses down her jaw. She was high from Emily's scent and it only made her crave her more, wanting to explore every part of Emily's body. Emily tilted her head further back as she began kissing the sweet spot on her neck, allowing her better access. As she sucked and licked her neck, Alison tugged on the hem of Emily's shirt and slowly revealed more and more of Emily's toned abs. Panic struck Emily when she realised Mrs. DiLaurentis may be home and tilted Alison's head with her finger.

"Where's your mom?"

"Relax, Em. She's out." Alison smirked.

Alison got back to work and removed Emily's shirt completely with help and tossed it to the side of her bed, now leaving Emily with a bra and shorts on. Sure, Alison had seen Emily in bikinis before but seeing her in a bra was just different. She had always seen Emily as beautiful but this sight made her realize she was not only that, she was hot. Something Alison classed as being completely different. She smiled at the beauty below her and ran her hand down Emily's stomach.

"Ali! Are you home?" They both heard a voice from downstairs.

Alison quickly pounced off Emily, the timing couldn't be worse. Emily quickly got up off the bed and put her shirt back on and fixed her hair in the mirror, not wanting to look suspicious.

"Fuck! Why is she home?!" Alison groaned and furrowed her eyebrows at Emily.

Emily remained silent and shrugged her shoulders, feeling slightly awkward and grabbed a magazine from Alison's drawers and flicked to a random page, pretending to be interested in an article about things no man will understand. She silently sighed as one of the headings stood out to her:_ "Having to learn how to walk in heels like a normal person and not a doofus_". Alison on the other hand had already made her way downstairs to greet her mother who was unpacking groceries.

"Oh good, you're home. Why was the back door left wide open for anyone to walk in here?" Mrs. DiLaurentis asked.

"Must have been Em. She's upstairs. It's hot, at least let some air in." Alison rolled her eyes.

"I see that. Your cheeks are quite flushed there. If it's too hot put the AC on. Leaving the door open will only let more heat into the house."

"Okay, whatever mom. I'm going back upstairs." Alison moaned as she felt her face turn a deeper shade of red from not noticing her cheeks were flushed probably because of what just almost happened.

She entered the room and closed the door without looking at Emily who was already looking at her.

"Were you just going to use me, Ali?" Emily asked, completely taking Alison off guard.

"Use you?"

"Yeah. Use me. Was this another one of your little childish ways to hurt me?"

Alison was taken aback by Emily at this point, never having seen Emily act this way towards her. Emily would always do as Alison wished and never said a word about it. Sex with her was just a step too far. Alison hung her head, feeling flustered.

"Well? Was it? "Emily asked, becoming impatient. "Of course it was. It always is with you."

Alison snapped out of her thoughts and brought her head back up to look Emily in the eye and approached her slowly. She could see Emily was angry, knowing she had to be serious with her.

"I told you, it meant nothing. So yeah, I was using you."

"You're my best friend, Ali. How could you do this to me? Don't you care about me at all?"

"You didn't stop me." Alison replied defensively.

"You're right about that. I wish I actually had. You're a selfish bitch." Emily snapped, tears forming in her eyes.

"You knew all this to begin with Emily. If you don't like it, get out." Alison was now inches away from Emily's face, glaring at her coldly.

Emily often wondered if Alison ever got bored of being a bitch to people and she just couldn't for once in her life let someone love her, although most of the time she didn't deserve to be loved. Emily sometimes hated herself for loving Alison, the whole town of Rosewood almost wanted her gone because of how she treats people and her attitude. She didn't understand how someone could have the heart to be so mean to people, Alison was the complete opposite of Emily but that didn't stop her from loving her. Emily did as Alison said and chucked the magazine to her side and trudged out of the room with tears still evident in her eyes, once again hurt by Alison. Will she ever learn?

Alison let out a frustrated sigh and fell back on her bed, looking up the ceiling. She heard her mother and Emily speak for a few seconds and the sound of the door closing shortly after. She just couldn't face her feelings towards Emily because in all honesty, they scared her. If people found out about her sexuality, she was pretty sure they wouldn't look at her the same of think of her as the 'Queen Bee'. Another reason she loved Emily was her courage. Emily had the courage to come out, unlike her. Something she wished she could do without fear. She pushed her argument with Emily out of her mind, knowing Emily will forgive her in a few days time as she always does.

* * *

**A/N: Should I continue? Feedback is always welcome! If I do, future chapters will be longer. I always tend to make the first chapter short.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter** **2**

Emily felt hurt. She couldn't keep letting Alison hurt and use her for her own good. This had been going on for over a year now and she was eventually starting to get sick of being treated badly by Alison. She really believed that if her and Alison were to never speak again, Alison really wouldn't care. She never loved anybody, she didn't know how to love, she certainly wasn't capable of it. Alison will purposely push anyone away that tries to get close to her and hurts the people that are already close such as Hanna. Alison constantly teased Hanna about her weight, making her feel ashamed of herself although Alison only thought of this as 'being a good friend' by trying to help. Best friends aren't supposed to hurt each other the way Alison hurts hers. That's not what you would call a 'true' best friend. Emily was laying on her bed once again crying over Alison. Alison was finally beginning to take a toll on Emily and it was killing her inside, whether Alison knew how badly she was hurting Emily or not, that didn't matter, she was still doing it. Too often. Emily just wishes she could fall for someone else, someone who would take her mind off Alison completely. It was times like this she didn't want to be in love with her. Unrequited love, it's not exactly the best thing in the world.

Emily flipped over her pillow due to it being damp from her tears and it didn't take much time for the other side to become damp either. As Emily lay there, she looked over to her wall to see the giant portrait of Alison that hung beside her door. The girl in the picture seemed so much different to the girl Emily knew. Alison looked like a sweet little angel in the portrait. The heart-shaped face, that beautiful smile, her hair curled perfectly into spirals and her tan really made her blue eyes stand out, along with her blonde hair. The girl Emily knows is nothing but a manipulative, cold hearted bitch. Alison knows every secret there is to know about people and that was what gave her power. She knew she ruled everyone and everyone knew she ruled them. She could use their secrets against them to get her own way and they could do nothing about it. Although saying this, Alison did have a soft side but rarely ever showed it. Out of Emily, Spencer, Aria and Hanna she showed this side more to Emily, which probably made Emily fall for her in the first place. Emily feels like she was like this only around her, it made her feel like she actually meant something to Ali but that feeling would always be taken away one way or another shortly after. It's an ongoing cycle with Emily and Alison, resulting in Emily being left with a broken heart again all because Alison didn't have the guts to tell her the truth or the decency to stop what they had going on.

"Honey, are you okay?" Pam Fields asked from the other side of Emily's door upon hearing her sobs.

Emily wiped the tears away from her eyes with her t-shirt and cleared her throat, "I'm okay, mom."

Pam opened the door and made her way over to Emily's bed and sat on the edge of it. She noticed Emily had been crying even if she did lie, her eyes were red and puffy and were still watering. She reached over and placed her hand on Emily's leg with a look of sadness on her face.

"What's wrong? Talk to me. I'm your mother, Emily. You can tell me anything." Pam said with her voice full of concern.

Emily shook her head, not willing to talk about her situation with Alison. She knew it would only confuse her mother in the first place. She would certainly not tell her the reason why she is crying _right_ now, about almost sleeping with Alison. Other times when she cried it was usually because of the same thing, she couldn't get over Alison and she was constantly hurting her.

"It doesn't matter." She said weakly.

"It does, Emily. It's obviously upsetting you a lot if you continue to cry about this often. Are you being bullied?"

"No, mom. Just please leave me. I'll be fine."

Pam removed her hand from Emily's leg and sighed. Seeing Emily cry like this broke her heart and what worsened it was that she wouldn't tell her the reason why she is continuously crying. She took one last look at Emily and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Emily started thinking about what it would have been like if she did sleep with Alison. Although they were already kissing, would sex make things awkward between them or would it actually bring them closer? Would it have been amazing? Or would it had been awful? Emily pushed those thoughts out of her mind. There's no way she would ever have sex with Alison. She couldn't let Alison use her like that, how would she ever respect herself?

* * *

Monday again. Alison groaned at the sound of her alarm and reached under her pillow to swipe her screen to stop it. She didn't have to get up this time, 6:00 am, but she liked to make an effort for school and make herself look presentable. It doesn't hurt to look good and it surely wouldn't hurt others by looking at her. Although Alison was a bitch, there was no denying she's beautiful but she wastes those looks by her horrible personality. She slid out of bed and performed her daily routine; brush teeth, get dressed, do makeup and eat breakfast. By the time she had done all this, it would be perfect timing to walk with Spencer to school seeing as they were neighbors. As Alison ate breakfast, she thought back to the day before with Emily. She had it in her head that Emily would come up apologizing to her today, even if she had nothing to apologize for. Sometimes Alison wished Emily could be a stronger person than she is. She a long time ago wrote just how amazing Emily is in her diary and how better she could be if she was just that bit stronger but also how she admires her beauty. '_Look at my mermaid. If she knew how much power she had, she could have whoever she wants. I think about what she'd be like if she was as tough as she was beautiful_'.

Alison finished her breakfast and said goodbye to her mother and walked to Spencer's, who was already on her way to meet her.

"'Sup, Spence." Alison smiled as she approached her.

"Hey." Spencer replied.

"Wanna skip first with me?"

The question earned Alison an 'are you serious' look from Spencer, causing her to smirk.

"Not in the mood to deal with Spanish today. Well, if you don't, I know Han or Em will."

"Can't you just go? It's only an hour out of your day. A beneficial and educational hour. You're going to regret skipping when it comes to finals, you know."

"Oh shush. Relax a little, will you Spence? I don't see why my choices should affect you in the first place."

Spencer sighed, knowing arguing with Alison would get her no where.

"So, how was your weekend?" Spencer asked, changing the subject.

"You could say it was... interesting." Alison raised her eyebrow mischievously.

"Interesting how?"

Alison laughed, knowing Spencer would be intrigued. "Just something happened with a certain someone."

"A certain someone? Someone that I know?" Spencer asked.

"Someone you know very well, actually. Anyway, enough of this. It's for me to know and you to find out. If you ever will, that is." Alison winked.

When they got to school, Spencer and Alison walked through the entrance and made their way through the crowded hallway, searching for the other girls. Spotting Aria could be hard because of her height, most people towered over her and some were just slightly taller. They walked at a slow pace, pushing through the bodies until Spencer noticed Emily filling her locker with books. Just as Emily was about turn and walk away, Spencer shouted on her.

"Hey, Em." She and Alison approached her.

"Hey guys." Emily smiled faintly.

"Hey. Here's an idea, Em. Wanna skip with me first?" Alison asked.

"Is that really a good idea?" Emily looked at Alison for a second then to Spencer, her eyes begging for help.

"Alison, don't pressure Emily into something she doesn't want to do. Either just go to class or find someone else," Spencer butted in.

"I'm not pressuring her into anything."

"Don't you usually skip with Hanna? Where is she?" Emily asked.

"I don't know but I found you first. Spencer, go find Aria and Hanna. This is between me and Em. Shoo."

Spencer rolled her eyes at Alison and said goodbye to Emily and set off to find the other two, leaving Emily to be persuaded by Alison. Although Emily felt awkward around her, Alison showed no signs of awkwardness or discomfort. She felt like her usual, arrogant self. Alison smirked at Spencer and walked off in the opposite direction, looking back over her shoulder a few seconds later when she noticed Emily hadn't moved a step.

"Are you coming or what?" Alison sighed.

Emily nodded and walked by Alison's side until they got to the outdoor seating Area. Just as the reached it, the bell rang signalling the beginning of first period and pupils began going their separate ways to class. Alison took a seat and patted the space beside her, motioning for Emily to join her.

"We're going to skip it here? In plain view of anyone?" Emily furrowed her brows.

"No you idiot. We'll go to the auditorium when the halls are clear. That's empty first every Monday. Will you stop being awkward around me? It's pissing me off, Em." Alison got her cell out and used the screen as a mirror to fix her hair.

"Sorry." Emily apologized quietly and looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry for what happened at the weekend, I know I shouldn't have said anything." She said sincerely.

Alison felt a pang of guilt wash over her but quickly let is pass as she just smiled at Emily. "Don't worry about it, Em. We're good."

"Thanks." Emily gave her a small smile.

Alison looked around and noticed everyone had scattered off to class, making it now clear for her and Emily to sneak into the auditorium. "Come on, let's go." She said as she lifted her bag and walked off with Emily following her.

* * *

After almost being caught by Mrs. Welch, Emily and Alison managed to sneak into the room, laughing quietly as they did. The fear of being caught thrilled Alison and the fact it was Emily who was with her made it all the better. Alison made her way towards the back of the room and Emily trailed behind her, fearing they would be caught at any moment. Alison flung herself down onto the couch, wearing that mischievous grin she would have on whenever doing some she shouldn't be.

"You know the other day doesn't change anything between us, right?" Alison asked.

Emily looked at her quizzically, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing happened." Emily said, taking a seat beside Alison.

"I was talking about what was said. Just forget it, okay?"

"Oh. Sure." Emily smiled.

"Wanna see something?"

Emily nodded, knowing Alison would show her anyway even if she said no. Alison slid slightly further away from Emily and brought her bag up to her knees, pulling out six photos from it. She lay them out on the space between her and Emily and looked up to see Emily's eyes scanning over them and a small grin creeping on her face.

"Are you planning a trip?" Emily asked.

"You and me in sweet Paris. How does that sound?" Alison smiled genuinely.

Emily shyly ducked her head, "Maybe we should learn how to parlez français before we go."

"Well we could start in the south of France, dancing through sunflower fields, lounging around in our bikinis in the French Riviera." Alison averted her gaze to the photos. "You'd look so good on top of the Eiffel tower.. wind in your hair." She finished.

Emily loved this side of Alison, the side that made her fall in love with her. The side that made Emily forget about every bad thing Alison had said or done to her, it was moments like this she cherished because they didn't happen often. She clasped her fingers around Alison's index finger as they both looked at the photo of the Eiffel tower which sent shock waves through both their bodies. Alison glanced up at Emily, smiling at her lovingly and Emily returned the smile. Once Emily let go, Alison started to gather the photos back into a bundle.

"How long are we going away for?" Emily asked as Alison gathered the photos.

Alison replied after a few seconds, "How about forever?"

Emily's heart fluttered. She wasn't exactly positive Alison was being serious about this whole trip but that didn't matter to her, all that mattered was that it even crossed Alison's mind. Her gazed flickered to Alison's lips for a second and averted it back to her eyes, getting lost in them. Alison broke the eye contact and put the photos back into her bag, smiling inside knowing she had just won Emily over. She brought her hand to Emily's face and lightly stroked her cheek with her thumb. The contact immediately relaxed Emily as it did for Alison, feeling her soft, tanned skin. Alison pulled her hand away and tilted her head back, resting it on the back of the couch with her eyes locked on the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Can I ask you something, Ali?"

Alison turned her head to look at Emily, waiting to hear her question.

"Why do you.. you know.. why do you act like such a bitch sometimes?" Emily asked nervously. She took this opportunity to ask this since Alison had shown her her soft side which she rarely ever does, hoping to get a decent explanation.

Alison let out a smirk, "Oh Em, it's not an act. It's who I am."

"Come on, no it isn't. I know you. You act like you don't care, I know you do. Why won't you let anyone in?"

Alison changed her position on the couch so she was now facing Emily. "How do you know_ this_ isn't an act?" She raised her eyebrows.

Emily sunk into the couch. Alison had a point. What if her kindness towards her really was just all an act? Is she only like that because she knows Emily is the weakest link? Emily sighed and ran her fingers through her.

"Em."

Emily made eye contact with Alison again, becoming impatient with her. Alison cupped her cheek with her right hand as her left lay in her lap and leaned in closer to her, closing her eyes when she was just millimeters away from her face. Emily turned her head away from her, something she had never even dreamed of doing. Alison opened her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, glaring at Emily.

"What's wrong?" Alison asked.

Emily's mind was running crazy and felt herself beginning to panic sweat as she faced Alison. Alison looked furious at this point. She knew she couldn't carry on like this with Alison anymore, it was ruining her. She thought she could actually change Alison for the better but knew that was near enough impossible. Every time Alison was sweet to her, it only meant another time for her to be a bitch.

"I can't do this anymore." She admitted.

"Can't do what, Emily?" Her facial features softened.

"This. This isn't fair, Ali. It's not fair on me. You know how I feel about you yet you continue to play with my feelings and use me. I think what happened at the weekend was the final straw for me. It's too much for me. If you really were my friend, you'd at least act like it." By the time Emily finished her sentence, tears had formed in her eyes. Her voice cracked in some places as she tried to hold them back which Alison could clearly hear, the sound breaking her heart. It has to be one of the most heartbreaking sounds there is. Alison felt like Emily had just broken up with her and they weren't even together in the first place. However, she remained the tough bitch she was, not giving in.

"This is for both our benefit, Em."

"No it isn't, Alison! This is all for your benefit!" Emily raised her voice. "Like you said, it's practice for you. What exactly is in this for me? Absolutely nothing so just shut up and leave me alone. I'm serious this time, I'm over this!"

Emily's voice made Alison back away from her with her not being used to someone shouting in her face. Normally, it would be the other way round. She watched Emily pick up her bag and leave the auditorium, walking at a fast pace. Alison didn't even know what to think. Maybe this was the final straw for her and she really is done for good, all because of her. Alison snapped out of her thoughts and picked up her bag and hurried out of the room in order to catch up with Emily. When she stepped out the door, Emily was no where in sight.

* * *

"School shouldn't be open when it's this hot." Hanna moaned as she fanned herself with a sheet of paper.

"Han, it's hot, we get it, moaning won't help anything." Aria said.

"But it's too hot to even eat. I don't have an appetite!"

Spencer and Alison joined them at the table and sat their trays down, sitting opposite each other.

"Where's Em?" Hanna asked.

"You probably won't see her for the rest of the day." Alison smirked.

"Why? What happened?" Spencer asked.

"She's just upset over some stupid thing, she'll be okay." Alison smiled and bit into her sandwich.

"What stupid thing?" Hanna asked. "Is she still in school?"

"Who knows? Maybe."

"Speak of the devil, guys." Aria butted in and pointed towards the door with her head.

Emily stepped through the doors, scanning the room for her friends. Alison and Hanna turned around and Hanna waved, trying to catch Emily's attention. She eventually caught sight of Hanna and made her way over to join them, avoiding Alison's stare. Usually, Emily would always be seated beside Alison but instead this time she placed herself beside Hanna, two seats away from Alison.

"Hey Em. You alright?" Hanna asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Emily gave her a reassuring smile.

"I don't know. Ali said something about you being upset. I just wanted to know how you were doing."

Emily leaned over slightly to look over at Alison who was glaring at Hanna then she looked directly at Emily, ridden with guilt.

"Really, Ali? I wasn't upset, you just got it wrong." Emily laughed.

Alison rolled her eyes and got back to eating whereas Hanna sat looking at Spencer, who noticed the tension between Emily and Alison. Hanna shook her head and decided to change the subject.

"Were you guys fighting?" Spencer asked before Hanna had the chance to open her mouth.

"Who?" Hanna asked.

"These two." Spencer pointed to Emily and Alison.

Emily shook her head and looked back over to Alison, "Nope. We weren't fighting, were we, Ali?"

Alison couldn't understand why Emily was acting the way she was, this was a completely different side to the sweet, quiet Emily she knew. She was acting as if she had a point to prove to her, which confused her. If Emily was going to be a bitch, Alison could be a bigger one.

"Of course not, guys. You know Em. She's too scared to open her mouth to anyone for an argument to even begin. Especially me." Alison smirked.

The other three girls sat there awkwardly, not sure what was actually happening between Emily and Alison. None of them had a clue just how close Emily and Alison were to begin with, there wasn't a reason for them to know. Emily ignored Alison's comment and left the table to grab lunch, leaving the rest of them in an uncomfortable silence.

"What a bitch." Alison muttered under her breath when Emily left.

"Did you just call Em a bitch?" Hanna asked.

"She get what she deserves, Hanna." Alison snapped.

"Seriously?! Don't be so fucking rude, Ali. Emily is our friend, in case you have forgotten."

"Whatever. I'm bored of this. Emily is no friend of mine."

Emily managed to overhear Alison when she came back to get her purse from her bag and stood there in disbelief, as did the rest of the girls. Spencer and Aria looked up at her with their eyes full of sadness as they saw Emily's face, being able to tell she was hurt. Upon noticing Spencer and Aria, Alison turned her head and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Emily. She regretted even opening her mouth when she saw the look on her face. Emily picked up her bag from under the table and walked out of the cafeteria with the girls fuming at Alison.

"Why would you say that?" Hanna glared at Alison. "How could you do that to Emily?"

"She wasn't supposed to hear that.." Alison trailed off.

"You should never have opened your mouth in the first place. You're the one that's a bitch, not Em."

"That's low, Ali," Aria said. "You better apologize to her like right now."

Alison hung her head, she knew Aria was right here. After a few minutes of silence, Alison felt her cell vibrate in her pocket and reached in to get it. Emily's name flashed on the screen, indicating a new message and Alison held her breath as she unlocked it, preparing to read what Emily had to say.

Emily:_ Don't talk to me again. Ever._

Alison couldn't act tough at this point, she felt her heart sink at the text as she read it with the girls' eyes on her. Hanna leaned over to read what the text said, noticing Alison's sudden change of mood.

"Will you please explain to me what is going on with you and Em? This is obviously something serious." Hanna asked, becoming irritated.

Alison locked her phone letting out a sigh. She looked up to meet Spencer's eyes, staring at her intently. "Spence, remember what we talked about this morning?"

"I remember," Spencer said nervously, unsure where Alison was going with this.

"Well.." Alison began. "That '_someone_' was Emily." She air quoted the 'someone'.

"So? What happened?" Spencer stared intently at her, as did the other girls.

Alison thought for a moment on how to word what she had to explain to them, she didn't want to give too much away for her own sake. According to the girls, including Emily, Alison was 100% straight and although they all knew Emily was gay, they had no idea about her feelings towards Alison.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter."

"No, Ali. Tell us. You can't just leave us hanging like that." Hanna nagged.

"It's between Em and I, okay? Shut the fuck up."

With that, the neither of them spoke a word and Alison got up to leave. She could feel Spencer's eyes on her the whole time she packed her things and left the cafeteria. With Spencer being the protective one of the group, Alison couldn't imagine how she would react to hearing she had been 'using' Emily and with the amount of time it had been going on would only worsen it. Spencer and Ali regularly bump heads as they're both stubborn and the feisty ones of the group but never showed fear towards one another. The only time Spencer would ever back down is if Ali ever threatened to reveal any of her secrets, which is just typical of her.

Neither of the girls saw Emily for the rest of the day, assuming she skipped class and went home or to work. The three of them were irritated by Alison but wouldn't choose sides to avoid the risk of completely diving the group and destroying their friendship or singling Alison out although sometimes they felt like that's what she needed as it cruel as it sounds. Maybe Alison should have a taste of her own medicine. Something to just alert her and make her realize that the way she is around people and how she treats them isn't okay.

* * *

Emily hit the snooze button on her alarm as she covered her eyes from the sunlight shining through the curtains in her room. She woke up feeling worse than yesterday knowing today is the day she'd have to make a big change in her life. She reached over to her bedside drawers and grabbed her cell. When the screen lit up, she had texts from everyone from but the one person she probably wouldn't hear from, mainly because she blocked her number. She didn't know for sure if Alison would text her in the first place after yesterday but she took proceedings just in case, not being in the mood to deal with her. She was sick of being Alison's little puppet and she made a promise to herself to be brave and strong enough to cut her out of life, maybe not forever, but long enough to get over her. But do you ever really get completely over your first love?

Emily sat in class waiting for it to begin as other pupils talked. Some thought about leaving since it was now 10 minutes into the period and the teacher hadn't showed up. Out of all the voices in the room, Emily could only hear Alison's the most as she talked to Hanna, Spencer and Mona. It made her skin crawl. Emily turned around to face Aria who was scribbling on her notebook, leaning her head on her hand. Alison caught Emily looking down at her notebook and looked up, giving her a small smile. She turned her head around to Alison, Spencer, Hanna and Mona, watching them chat away. Emily's eyes followed and as soon as they did, they made contact with Alison's for a split second. She felt herself blush when Alison smiled at her, silently cursing at herself.

"What happened, Em?" Aria asked, concerned.

"Huh?"

"What happened between you and Ali?"

"Oh.. nothing. It's not important." Emily smiled sweetly.

"It is. Em, you even avoided us at lunch just because Alison was there. It's obviously something serious." Aria extended her arm and placed it on Emily's whose was resting on the back of her chair. "You can trust us."

"Promise me you won't tell the other girls?"

Aria nodded her head although unsure why she couldn't tell the others.

"There's a lot to explain. I'll stop by later. Will you be home?"

"I will be after six. Come by any time after then." Aria smiled.

"Okay. Thanks Aria." Emily returned the smile and turned back to face the front of the classroom.

A substitute teacher eventually showed up 15 minutes later and pupils took the chance to stay in the seats they had moved to at the beginning of the lesson. Emily couldn't focus at all during the lesson with her mind clouded of thoughts of Alison and how they were going to Paris together. Emily imagined it as the most blissful trip of their lives, just the two of them in one of the most romantic cities of the world. Her thoughts drifted to the other girls, why would Alison choose to take Emily and not them? Was she really Alison's favorite? When she said they'd go forever, Emily would without giving it a second thought if she knew Alison was serious but everything's too good to be true with Alison to Emily. Throughout the lesson, all Emily could hear was Alison's voice and even if it drove her crazy at this time, it was a sound that she previously could listen to forever, never being tired of hearing it.

Trying to avoid Alison wasn't exactly easy considering she was in almost all of her classes. Science was the one class she could get rid of her for an hour which made her look forward to actually going to it for once. When lunch came, she avoided her by sitting with some swim team mates. Figuring she wouldn't be spending much time with the other girls because of Alison, she thought she may as well try mixing with other people and just be close enough to hang around with them. One girl in particular she was fond of was a swim mate, Paige McCullers, who was just another one of Alison's sworn enemy's. Paige's competitive nature sometimes bugged Emily although she found it funny Paige could never beat her time record, no matter how much effort she put in. They had gotten closer since Paige joined the swim team but Emily would never think of Paige as more than a friend, she just wasn't her type.

* * *

Emily walked up the path to Aria's front door, hadn't been feeling this nervous since coming out. Even though this was different from coming out to someone, she was about to profess her feelings for Alison to someone else other than her. She had never opened up to anyone about this, instead she bottled her feelings and thoughts up which caused her to continuously cry over Alison because she couldn't handle it at times. Maybe telling someone would actually benefit her. She raised her hand and knocked twice on the door, waiting for Aria. Seconds later, Emily heard footsteps coming downstairs and Aria opened the door in a loose grey t-shirt and sweatpants with her hair tied back.

"Hey, Em. Come in." Aria stood to the side to let Emily in. She closed the door behind her and walked into the kitchen with Emily following. "Coffee?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"Let's just head upstairs then."

When they got to Aria's room, Aria sat on her bed as Emily closed the door, "Okay. So what's up?"

Emily walked over and planted herself down beside Aria, crossing her arms and silently took a deep breath.

"Just start from the beginning." Aria said calmly and squeezed Emily's shoulder, immediately feeling how tense she was.

"You have to promise not to tell the other girls, okay?"

"I promise, Em. Why don't you want them to know though?"

"You'll probably know why once I tell you what happened." Emily swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Okay.. continue."

"The truth is, Aria.." Emily paused. "I'm in love with Alison and have been for a long time now." Emily saw Aria's eyes slightly widen at her confession, clearly not expecting to hear this. "You could be thinking a million things right now but the reason I'm upset is that Alison knows how I feel about her and she takes advantage of me."

"Wow, oh my god.. I'm so sorry, Em." Aria said sincerely. "Takes advantage of you how?"

"Well.. we kiss, like a lot. She says it's for practice.. this has been going on for a year now. I don't think she realizes how much she's hurting me because if she did, she would stop or she actually does realize but doesn't care because that's just who she is."

"That sounds just like her. God, she's such a bitch." Aria said with much venom in her words.

"Yeah, too right. Yesterday when we skipped first she took me to the auditorium and she suggested the sweetest thing.. I'm not sure whether or not she was serious about it though." Emily trailed off. "She said that we'd be going to Paris together.. just the two of us. Forever." Emily's heart sank as she thought back to yesterday, how sincere and sweet Alison seemed with her. The Alison that made Emily fall in love with her.

"Alison has always said she'd love to go to France one day.. she's obsessed with it. Maybe she was serious, who knows?" Aria shrugged. "I still don't understand though, Em. Why can't you tell Spence and Hanna this?"

"I suppose I could tell them that part.. it's what almost happened at the weekend I can't say." Emily ducked her head. There was a few seconds of complete silence between the girls, Emily being terrified to tell Aria and Aria already running possibilities through her head. Emily decided it was best just to tell Aria the truth and maybe get advice from her. "What happened was that when we kissed, we headed up to her room and one thing led to another-,"

"You slept with Alison?!" Aria shrieked, cutting Emily off with her eyes wide with terror.

"What? No way, Aria. I _almost_ did is what I was trying to say." Emily admitted shamefully.

"Oh, shit. So.. how far did you actually go?"

"Well, if Mrs. DiLaurentis hadn't come in I think we would have really went all the way. I had my shirt off and I'm sure Ali was about to remove my pants just before she came home."

"Thank God she came home then."

"That's not what upset me. Well, it technically is. It's what Alison said afterwards. I asked her if she was just using me and she said what I thought she would, 'Yeah'. It was the way she said it, Aria. I know she had been using me all along but to hear her actually admit it broke my heart.. then she tried to put the blame on me for saying I didn't try to stop her, which I suppose is true."

As Emily spoke, Aria could feel herself welling up just listening to her. Emily has always been the sweetest and most sensitive one of the group. How Alison could treat her like that, Aria had no idea. She pulled Emily into a hug and felt a tear drip onto her shoulder. She ran her fingers through Emily's hair, doing her best to comfort her and letting her get every tear out.

"I can't do it anymore, Aria." Emily's words were muffled by Aria's skin. She pulled herself away and Aria wiped away the tears on her face with her thumb. "I can't be her friend or even be around her anymore. What she said to me really hurt me, you know? I just wish I could move on and find someone better."

"Don't cry, Em. Ali isn't worth your tears, okay? Time heals everything. One day you're going to wake up and you'll realize that the feelings you have for her will be gone and Alison's the one who'll be missing out. Not you. You can do so much better than Alison and you will, I promise you. I can understand why you don't want to be around us when she's there now but we'll work something out about that, don't worry." Aria pulled Emily back in closer to her as her tears continued to flow. She really believed Emily deserved none of this and that Alison would regret hurting her like this. After minutes of silence, Emily released her arms from Aria.

"I didn't tell Han or Spence this because they'll end up killing Alison. I mean, you know how Spencer is." Emily half-joked. "And Hanna can't keep her mouth shut. If I told her and not Spencer, I know she would end up telling her."

"Yeah, I get it." Aria laughed. "But why didn't you tell us sooner that you were in love with her?"

"I don't know." Emily shrugged. "I didn't want to weird anyone out.. I didn't want any of you to think of me as the girl that crushes on her straight best friends."

"Em, we would never think of you any differently. We love you. Your feelings towards someone is something you can't control, no one can but that's fine. Don't forget that."

"Thanks, Aria. I really needed to hear this." Emily smiled. "I'm serious about cutting her out though. I'm done with Alison."

Aria never said anything in reply but just smiled understandingly at Emily, knowing she had a reason to cut Alison out.

* * *

**A/N: I firstly just wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback I received for the first chapter and the follows/favorites for the story, I love knowing people are interested! **

**What did you think of this? Let me know :) If you have any suggestions, I'm always willing to consider them and fit them into the story in the best possible way that I can so just throw me some. You can also leave them in my ask box on Tumblr (dailyhannily) if you want because I'm on there every day basically, it's up to you. I also want to apologize if there are any mistakes in this, I haven't proofread most of it mainly because I'm dying to get to bed right now. I'll correct them ASAP if I find any tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After a couple of weeks of cutting Alison out, Emily found that she only made herself feel worse about everything by missing Alison. She missed everything about her, her voice, her laugh, her smile, everything that made Emily fall for her. Although it was hard on her, she knew it was for the best to avoid Alison completely, how would she ever get over her if she didn't? Alison wasn't the only one Emily missed, she missed the other girls too. Because Alison was also their friend, Emily could never hang with them if Ali was there. They would occasionally meet up after school some days but it wouldn't be for long since Alison also wanted to spend time with them. It was something Emily hated but she'd have to get used to it. Whenever Emily saw Alison in the hallways or in the cafeteria, she would purposely ignore her when she would try start a conversation or walk in the opposite direction when seeing Alison walk towards her. When Alison was with the three girls, Aria's irritation towards Alison grew whenever Emily's name left her lips although she could never show these feelings in case Spencer or Hanna started to pick up on anything unusual. Although Spencer and Hanna never picked up on anything suspicious, Alison had eventually caught on to Aria's behaviour but never said a thing about it, she was waiting for Aria to confront her any day now which she new she would.

Each night, Emily lay in bed awake for a few hours with her thoughts consumed by Alison. Seeing Alison everyday at school only made her miss her more. Some days she even thought about giving in and just speaking to her just to have her back in her life but she didn't want to seem weak and who knows, maybe Alison is the one who'll come crawling back to her despite her stubborn attitude. She also thought about how it would be best to tell Spencer and Hanna about the situation considering she had already told Aria, keeping it from them wouldn't be fair and the longer she kept it from them may upset them. Emily made a mental note to talk to Spencer and Hanna sometime this week maybe with the support of Aria.

What Emily didn't know that Alison was a complete mess inside. She too missed Emily like crazy, probably more than Emily missed her. Each time Alison got ignored, a subtle pain stung in her chest and she knew she was losing Emily for good. Of course she noticed Emily walking in the opposite direction when she seen her coming, she wasn't blind. What she could give to just apologize to Emily but even if she did, she was sure Emily wouldn't believe a word of it. According to Alison, Emily hated her now. Alison always knew Emily would get sick of her one day, she just didn't expect this soon. There wasn't a day that passed by where Alison didn't leave a text or voicemail on Emily's phone. She honestly didn't care how desperate she seemed - she just wanted Emily to speak to her. The only thing she didn't know was that Emily had blocked her number.

* * *

Emily made her way through the hallway, finding it hard to keep her eyes open due to the lack of sleep. Dark circles had started to form under her eyes these past few weeks because basically, she was a mess, as was almost everything else in her life. She performed poorly in her recent swim meet, only coming in third which was low for her, she always aimed for first place and she would always be it. She opened her locker and stuffed some books inside to reduce the weight of her bag. She slid her phone out from her pocket to check the time and noticed she had five minutes until first period so decided to head to the bathroom to touch up.

Emily effortlessly pushed the bathroom door open and made her way over to the mirrors and dug out foundation from her bag. She applied some concealer in attempt to hide the dark circles under her eyes but found no use in it, they still showed no matter how much she applied. She put the concealer back into her bag and swung it over her shoulder and made her way out of the bathroom with a curse escaping under her breath, remembering English was first on a Monday which meant having to see and hear Alison for a full hour.

Emily walked in and took her seat, noticing neither of the girls had arrived yet. She slipped out a pen from her bag and placed it under the desk, waiting for class to start. As she patiently waited, Emily heard a familiar voice echo in the hallways and with each passing second, it sounded as if was getting closer to the classroom. Emily ran her fingers through her hair and turned her head in the direction of the window the moment the girls walked in, wanting to avoid eye contact with Alison. Alison glanced over at Emily as she did every time she was in the same room as her and let out an irritated sigh. When Emily heard each of their chairs scrape along the floor, she averted her gaze back to the board as Mr. Fitz began preparing the lesson.

* * *

Halfway through the lesson, Emily turned to Aria who was staring out the window, obviously not paying attention to what Mr. Fitz had been talking about.

"Hey, Ar?" Emily whispered.

Aria snapped out of her trance and directed her attention to Emily, "Oh. What's up, Em?"

Emily turned her head back to the front of the class just to make sure Mr. Fitz was still writing on the board. "I was thinking about telling Spencer and Hanna about.. you know.." She trailed off and averted her sight over to Alison who was scribbling on her notebook.

"That's great, Em. I'm glad you finally decided." Aria gave a genuine smile with Emily still focused on Alison. Aria turned her head to follow Emily's gaze and sighed silently.

Emily could pretend she hated Alison all she wanted but Aria could see right through her, her eyes also gave everything away. Whenever Emily lay eyes on Alison, they would light up although not as much as they used to. That light was gradually becoming sadness and it pained Aria to know Emily was heartbroken over Alison. Alison lifted her head from her chin and caught Emily's stare, causing her heart to skip a beat. Emily quickly looked away as she felt her cheeks turn a deep shade of red, that was the last thing she wanted.

"Can you tell the Spencer and Hanna to meet at mines tonight, say around 7?" Emily asked.

"Sure thing, Em." Aria stroked her arm.

Emily smiled lazily at her and positioned herself so she was now fully facing the front.

* * *

"So, how's things going?" Spencer asked Alison.

The pair were both walking home from school, just three blocks away from Alison's house.

"Things? They're fine. Why'd you ask?"

"Just wondering. Have you heard from Emily yet?"

"Nope." Alison hung her head. "Seems like I won't be hearing from her for a while."

"She'll come around and forgive you sooner or later.. for whatever dumb thing you said this time."

"Shut up, Spencer." Alison snapped. "You know_ nothing."_

"Well, I'm just saying. If I was Emily, I-"

Spencer's sentence was cut short by Alison. "You'd what Spencer?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter." Spencer mumbled.

Alison glared at Spencer and let out an exasperated breath. "Aren't you supposed to be at hockey practice today?" She asked.

"It's cancelled. Coach is sick. I'll practice when I get home then I'm going to Emily's later."

"To do what? Listen to her boast her swim records?" Alison laughed bitterly.

"I don't know what for. Aria mentioned it."

"Oh she did.. interesting. Looks like it's just me and Han tonight then."

"Actually, Hanna will be there too, including Aria." Spencer said in a tone which she knew would annoy Alison.

"Great." Alison's tone was sarcastic.

"I wish you and Em would just make up.. this is ridiculous."

"Spencer, do you think I haven't tried talking to her? She blanks me whenever I make the effort to start a conversation and walks the other way when she sees me coming. What else can I do? She won't answer my calls or texts, I'm tired of it. I just don't care anymore, she can do whatever the hell she wants. She'll regret it."

Spencer could see where Alison was going with this, she knew she was trying to get a rise out of her but Spencer wouldn't give her the reaction she wanted. Instead, she nodded her head and kept quiet.

* * *

Emily lay on her bed waiting on the girls' arrival. The nerves she felt before opening up to Aria rattled inside her again, not sure how Spencer and Hanna would take the news. She wouldn't go into the detail with them like she did with Aria, she figured it would be best to just tell them the basics of her and Alison. Telling them the whole story would only upset her again and the last thing Emily wanted was for Hanna and Spencer to see her break down. Emily was disturbed by the sound of the front door opening, followed by two voices bickering, which could only mean it was Hanna and Spencer.

"Em?" She heard Aria's irritated voice call from downstairs.

Emily moved off the bed and made her way downstairs to find Hanna and Spencer glaring at each other. She locked eyes with Aria and rolled her eyes as did Aria, both being sick of the constant bickering between Spencer and Hanna.

Emily cleared her throat. "If you two are done.. come upstairs."

They all followed Emily up to her room with Aria behind Emily, Spencer and Hanna behind Aria.

"She started it." Hanna moaned.

"Actually, you did Hanna. If you never brought up-"

"Oh my god, both of you, give it a rest!" Aria snapped.

"Jeez, who rattled your cage Aria?" Hanna smirked.

Aria looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at Hanna.

Emily entered her room and stood by the door as the girls entered, closing it when they were all in. They took a seat on Emily's bed, waiting to hear what she had to say. Ever since Aria told them about Emily wanting to talk to them tonight, they had been feeling apprehensive about the whole thing. Of course, Hanna thought the worst, assuming she was on drugs, especially by her appearance over the last couple of weeks. Emily placed herself at the top of the bed so she'd have room to stretch her legs.

"So.. are you on drugs?"

"Hanna!" Aria and Spencer shrieked.

"What? Look at her, she's a mess."

Emily pursed her lips at the comment, at least Hanna was honest. "I'm not on drugs, Hanna. But thank you." She said sarcastically.

"Oh." Hanna said quietly.

Emily glanced over at Aria to meet her eyes and Aria gave her a supporting nod. "It's about me and Ali."

"Okay.. continue." Spencer said, eyeing Emily.

"Right.. the thing is, I'm in love with Alison." Emily hung her head to avoid Spencer and Hanna's reactions as Aria reached out instinctively and intertwined their fingers, smiling faintly.

"You're.. In love with her?" Hanna asked disbelievingly, her eyes locking with Spencer's for a brief moment then back to Emily.

Emily nodded. "I'm in love with her and she knows it and well.. she takes advantage of me. All the time."

"She takes advantage of you? How?" Spencer asked.

"Alison has been using me. Guys I really don't want to talk about it." Emily said quietly.

"It's okay, Em. We understand. You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to." Hanna said sincerely.

"Thanks, Han." Emily smiled genuinely.

"Em, how long had this been going on?" Spencer asked.

"Um.. roughly a year. Since last summer."

"You let her get away with that for a year?" Anger evident in Spencer's tone.

"Spence, really, It's no big deal." Emily huffed. "I didn't exactly try to stop her."

"Emily, this isn't your fault. I swear I will destroy her." Spencer said through gritted teeth.

"Calm down, Spence. Emily's doing just fine, stop worrying." Aria butted in.

"_Fine_? Is that why she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks? Or why she is slacking in class?"

"Will you just drop it, Spence? I get that you're concerned but this is my problem, not yours. Don't say anything to Ali, it'll only make things worse. I don't want her knowing I even brought her up."

"Sorry for trying to be a good friend." Spencer said sarcastically.

"I really appreciate it Spencer but I'd prefer if you just left it."

"If that's what you want.." Spencer sighed.

* * *

Spencer tried to keep her thoughts inside to no avail when she soon saw Alison the next day. She caught sight of her lounging around in her backyard next to the pool, with it being able to see from Spencer's window. Spencer scurried downstairs and left her house and made her way over to Alison's yard, unable to keep the furious expression hidden on her face.

"Ali, we need to talk." Spencer said sternly.

"Hello to you too, Spencer." Alison shot her a smile.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you think you're smart?" Spencer crossed her arms, towering over Alison as she lay on the sunbed.

Alison rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about, Spencer?"

"You know damn well what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb with me."

"Listen Spencer, I have no idea what you're talking about so you either tell me or go home and stop wasting my time."

"Does _Emily_ ring a bell to you?"

"What?" Alison asked quietly. "Why- Who told you?

"Emily did. All of us know, Alison. How could you do that to Emily? You know how she feels about you, you're disgusting. You don't even deserve Emily, you don't deserve anyone, in fact. Do you realize how much you've hurt her? Do you care? Does this make you feel good or something, hurting other people? We're done with you, Alison." Spencer flung has hands up in defeat. "Stay away from us. I mean it." Spencer narrowed her eyes at her and walked away, leaving Alison for what seemed like the first time ever speechless.

Alison suddenly felt rage hit her and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean you're done with me? I made you, Spencer. Remember?!" She stood up for more volume to be projected in her voice.

Spencer ignored Alison's words and continued walking back to her own house. At this point, she wasn't caring what Emily had said to her about to leave it, Alison couldn't carry on treating people the way she does, especially one of her best friends whose in love with her. She knew Emily would probably be mad at her but what else could she do? Spencer knew what Emily and Alison were both like, Emily would soon forgive Alison and fall right back under her spell just as Alison would wish. Spencer closed her bedroom door behind her and decided to call Aria, just to give her a warning about her confrontation with Alison.

Aria was filled with relief when she was told about Spencer and Alison's talk. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go without blowing at Alison, thankfully Spencer did it for her. She couldn't stand the way Alison would talk about Emily, almost as if she owned her. Telling Emily the same news may not have the same outcome but Spencer would worry about that at another time. Right now, all that mattered was Alison had to know her place. Spencer wondered how Alison would survive without her minions, her guess was not very well.

Meanwhile, Emily was driving home from swim practice with her still damp hair. She hadn't bothered to shower after practice, not having the energy left in her to do so. Her plan was to get home and go straight to sleep, feeling as if she could sleep for days on end. At this point, her awareness level was extremely low and if anything had to come round the bend, Emily probably wouldn't be able to react quick enough. The more tired Emily felt, the longer the journey to home felt. There wasn't even a mile between her and home and Emily's head dipped down gradually with her eyes slowly closing. The tire hitting the sidewalk jolted Emily's head up, causing panic.

"Fuck." She breathed out.

Emily instantly pulled the keys out of the ignition to recompose herself. She knew before she left it was dangerous to drive when she was this tired but she had no other way to get home. Emily rubbed her eyes, hoping to waken herself up more just until she was okay to drive home. She glanced around and noticed a figure approaching behind her in her mirror, she rubbed her eyes once more for better vision and recognised the figure - Alison. Emily flung her head back to the headrest and closed her eyes.

"Em?" She heard the voice. She didn't bother to open her eyes to look at the girl, secretly enjoying the brief moment of resting.

"Are you okay?" Alison asked.

Emily opened her eyes and lazily looked up Alison, shrugging at her.

"You look.. awful." Alison said bluntly. "What's wrong? Are you unwell?"

"No." Emily shook her head. "I'm tired. Beyond tired."

Alison examined Emily's face, noticing she was looking paler and had bags under her eyes. She knew she had hurt Emily but she didn't think she hurt her no where near enough to the point she would lose sleep over her.

"Em, you can't drive like this. Give me your keys."

"No. I can do what I like." Emily scoffed. "Since when did you ever care about me?" Emily started the engine back up.

Alison sighed. "I'm not kidding, get into the passenger seat."

"I'm not kidding either, you don't control or own me, Alison. I let you do that for too long." Emily took the handbrake off and drove away.

"I know you miss me, Em!" Alison shouted.

In response, Emily stuck her hand out the window and flipped Alison off not quite catching her words clearly. She honestly had no interest in what Alison had to say to her. She eventually made it home and dragged herself upstairs, skipping dinner for today. Emily dumped her bag on the floor and walked over to her drawers to find something comfortable to wear. On top of the clothes was a long grey t-shirt, suitable to sleep in. She stripped and kicked her clothes behind her and put the t-shirt on. With her hair being damp and her tiredness, she felt cold and jumped straight into bed, throwing a blanket and covers over her and brought her knees up to her chest, trying to get as warm as possible.

* * *

Alison hesitated to call Emily and decided there was no use knowing Emily wouldn't pick up in the first place. Without Hanna, Spencer or Aria, she had nothing to do with the rest of her day. She walked around her room aimlessly thinking of anything to get her out of the house. The brew crossed her mind, somewhere she could go without worrying about looking like a loner by going on her own, unlike going to the movies. Alison's thoughts were distracted when she caught a glimpse of Spencer from her window followed by the lamp in her room being switched off. She sighed and threw herself onto the bed facing the ceiling, pulling out her phone from her back pocket. Alison decided to look through her photos to pass time. The photos varied from pictures of herself, to photos with the girls, to ones from her vacation and some of Paris. A few weeks before telling Emily about the trip, she decided to save photo of places they should visit if they ever went although now it looks like Paris won't happen. As she scrolled though her photos, she came to one she had taken of her and Emily last summer with the other girls in the background. Fireworks lit up the sky in the photo with them being more noticeable considering it was in the evening. Emily had the sweetest smile on her face with her hair pushed over to one side and her arm wrapped around Alison's waist. Alison had her arm hooked around Emily's neck with her hand clasping onto that arm, looking like she was pulling Emily in as close as possible to her. If you didn't know their status, you'd think they were a couple by the way they smiled and how close they looked.

Alison could remember this day like it was yesterday. Noel Kahn had thrown a party one weekend at his cabin on the fourth of July with almost everyone in their year invited. She remembered spending most of the time by Emily's side, only leaving her when either one of them had gone to the bathroom or had went to get refills of drinks. The night was one of Alison's most treasured memories - It was a time when there were no major problems or worries in any of their lives and her and Emily were on good terms although this was around they time they had started something between them. This was the time when there were no complications between Emily and Alison. Alison at this time had no idea about Emily's feelings towards her and Emily wasn't exactly sure of her feelings, all she knew was that Alison made her happy and they both shared something neither of the others did. Alison smiled fondly at the memory and swiped the screen revealing the next photo in her album which was blurry probably due to movement but she could still tell what the photo was. Her and Emily looked like they were laughing hysterically at something in the photo, laying down on the grass with more fireworks still visible in the background. Who took the photo, Alison couldn't remember. Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Mona were sat just behind them, looking as if they were watching the fireworks display. Alison guessed they were laughing at something Noel had done or said, remembering he tried flirting with Alison a few times when she really wasn't interested. Alison locked her phone and flung it to the side, suddenly feeling more nostalgic than she normally would be about her time spent with Emily. She wished she could turn back time to last summer. Without a doubt, it was one of the best summers they had all had.

"You've got a visitor." Jason knocked on Alison's door.

"Oh. Okay." Alison startled.

Alison swung her legs off the bed and made her way downstairs, curiously wondering who needed her. She wasn't expecting anyone and she didn't see why any of the girls would visit her after what Emily told them. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was greeted by an unexpected guest.

"Hanna?"

"Hey." Hanna smiled.

"Not that I'm happy to see you but what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see how you were."

"Really? You aren't here to yell at me like Spencer?" Alison asked sarcastically.

"Spencer talked to you? When? Emily told her.. Actually, it doesn't matter." Hanna shook her head.

"Emily told her what, Hanna?"

"She told Spencer not to say anything to you but clearly she just had to." Hanna rolled her eyes.

Alison bit down on her lip thinking back to her and Spencer's conversation earlier.

"Look, Ali. Whatever happened between you and Em, that's none of my business. I don't hate you, I just hate what you done to Emily."

"Come upstairs." Alison dismissively said.

Hanna followed Alison up to her room and stood idly waiting for Alison to say something. She could feel Alison's eyes on her as she lay back on her bed, suddenly feeling nervous.

"I don't bite, Han. Sit." Alison patted the space beside her.

Hanna placed herself beside Alison on the bed, feeling anxious of what Alison was thinking.

"So.. how have you been?" Hanna raised her eyebrows.

"Great." Alison said sarcastically. "Why'd you ask?"

"Like I said, I just wanted to see how you were doing." Hanna shrugged.

"I ran into Em earlier.. driving in a state."

"What do you mean?"

"She was no where near fit enough to drive.. she drove off the road. She looks sick."

"Wait, are you being serious? Did she crash?" Hanna panicked.

"She didn't crash. When I got to her I offered to drive her home but she said she was fine. So.." Alison shrugged.

Hanna immediately relaxed. If anything happened to Emily she would freak considering her and Emily were the closest of the group.

"Ali, why did you do it?"

"Do what? Offer to drive her home?"

"Why did you take advantage of her? Hurt her? She probably isn't sleeping properly because she's heartbroken."

Alison's gaze directed to her hands as they lay on her stomach. She let out a long sigh and squeezed the bridge of her nose, slightly screwing her face up. She couldn't tell Hanna the truth, she just wasn't ready for that. Hanna gave a faint smile expecting Alison to not answer anything. She took Alison's hand away from her face and rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb.

"Do you regret it?"

Regret. Something Alison felt every day for treating Emily the way she did, even when they were on good terms. She met Hanna's eyes again and nodded.

"Why didn't you just leave her alone? Ali, there are hundreds of boys out there who would be more than happy to have you as their girlfriend. You could have gone after one of them."

"Do you think I don't know that, Hanna? I know what I did was wrong but I can't turn back time and fix everything, can I?"

"I guess you can't." Hanna said quietly. "How exactly did you take advantage of her? Em never said anything about that."

"She didn't?" Alison asked disbelievingly.

Hanna shook her head. "Nope. She never told us much, really."

"Well, We used to kiss.. you know, for practice. I guess I was leading her on by that because I know how she felt about me. I've known for quite some time now. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago we almost took it too far and then it was just over after that."

"_Too far_? You mean you almost slept with her?" Hanna raised her brows, shocked.

"Yep, almost."

"Well.. what made you stop?"

"My mom came home."

"That could have been awkward." Hanna laughed.

"Tell me about it."

There was a moment of silence between the girls, both with their minds in completely different places.

Alison broke the silence. "I think you're the only one who doesn't hate me." She laughed.

"Ali, no one hates you. Spencer and Aria are just angry at what you did. They'll get over it soon.. they have to. It's not like you killed someone, is it? Emily on the other hand.. I'm not sure how she feels but I know she misses you."

"She_ misses_ me?" Alison asked, trying to hide the desperation and excitement in her voice.

"Well, Ar and I think so. It's kinda obvious and plus you're her first love.. they're not easy to forget or get over." Hanna said truthfully.

"Hm.. that's true." Alison said quietly.

"Do you still want Em to be friends with you?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Apologize to her, get her alone and she'll have no option to listen to you. Even if she doesn't accept your apology, let her know how sorry you are. Okay?"

"Why are you being nice to me? Why are you all even friends with me in the first place? I've been horrible to all of you, remember?"

"I won't lie, you have your moments but I guess we can look past your bad side.. you're not totally a heartless bitch. Everyone has some good and bad in them and I think you just choose to show your bad side more and put up more of a wall. You're not as bad as you think you are, Ali." Hanna stated sincerely.

Alison ran a finger through her hair. A heart to heart with someone is what she really needed although she still had a lot to tell but that could wait until another time, preferably when she was ready to tell. "Thanks, Han. I really needed to hear this."

"You know you can always talk to me. I won't judge. Promise."

"Well thanks for not being a total bitch to me today." Alison laughed heartily.

"You're welcome." Hanna winked. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Alison eyed her nervously.

"About Paris.. were you serious about going with Emily?"

The question hurt Alison more than she was expecting it to. Whether or not Emily knew she was serious, Alison was. She got up off her bed with Hanna's eyes following her and opened the drawer, rummaging through sheets of paper until she finally found what she was looking for. She pulled out the photos of Paris she had shown Emily a couple of weeks back along with an envelope. She handed the photos and envelope to Hanna, who looked perplexed more than ever. Hanna set the envelope between her legs are she looked through the photos, Alison leaning over to look at them with her.

"Oh.. Paris. Paris looks amazing." Hanna sighed.

"Yep.."

Hanna handed the photos back to Alison when she had finished looking through each of them and picked up the envelope. When she lifted it, she noticed it had some weight to it. She opened it and pulled out a yellow leaflet and scanned it for a brief moment, reading the words that were displayed across the top of the page - _'A Tour of Paris_'.

Hanna was too distracted by what she had seen stuffed in the envelope to look through the leaflet and quickly discarded it. Hanna reached back into the envelope and slid out a bundle of money held together by an elastic band. Her eyes slightly widened when she realised just how much money Alison had. As Hanna pulled the money out, Alison reached underneath her bed and pulled her laptop and quickly turned it on. Hanna looked at Alison quizically when she held the money but Alison was still focused on her laptop, waiting on it to start up.

"Ali, what the hell?"

The laptop eventually started up and Alison opened her emails as soon as it did while Hanna took the money from the band to count it. She counted through countless notes of $20 and $50 bills, there must have been at least $1500, considering she had not even counted half of the notes and so far summed up $800. By the time Hanna finished counting, Alison found the email she had been looking for and that heart-sinking feeling returned when she read over it.

"Where the hell did you get all this money? That's a lot, Ali."

Hanna was stunned by the amount of money there was, it must have taken her months to save for this. Alison ignored Hanna's question and slid the laptop over to her. Hanna looked at her confused but soon focused on the laptop. As Hanna read what was on screen, Alison watched her carefully, examining her face for her reaction. She saw Hanna mouth what looked like 'oh my god' slowly, just what she guessed would come out of her mouth. Hanna read through the email in complete awe - a confirmation of booking a one way flight to Paris for two passengers, departing 26th June 2014 at 06.10 am.

"There's your answer." Alison muttered.

Hanna's eyes were still glued to the screen, reading over the information just to make sure she read it properly. Once it finally hit her that what she was seeing was real, she turned to Alison having no idea what to say or ask with her head filled with thoughts.

"You were really going.. I thought you were just kidding.." Hanna trailed off.

"Yeah well, you thought wrong. It doesn't matter now anyway." Alison shrugged and pulled the laptop over to herself and closed the screen.

"Ali, that's like the sweetest thing ever. Heck, it's _romantic_. Why would you do this?"

Alison turned her head away from Hanna to avoid her seeing the tears she felt in her eyes and tightly squeezed them shut in order to hopefully get rid of them. She jumped at the touch of Alison's hand on shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Hanna was concerned.

Alison cleared her throat. "Of course. I just really wanted to go. Now I'm just waiting on a refund for the tickets."

Hanna heard the pain behind Alison's words no matter how much she tried to hide it. She could sense this hurt Alison a lot more than she was letting on it would which only made her think she was trying to hide something. A lightbulb eventually lit in her head and she cleared her throat.

"Ali.. You have to speak to Emily asap. Tell her the truth." Hanna hoped Alison picked up on the hint.

"What's the point? I give up."

"What? Alison DiLaurentis is _giving up_? What happened to you? Giving up was never even an option for you."

"Hanna, don't you get it? Emily doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. She won't return my phone calls, texts or voicemails and she avoids me whenever I approach her. It's impossible." Alison quickly became infuriated. She didn't mean to raise her voice but she couldn't help it, Hanna didn't understand.

"You're not trying hard enough. If you actually be upfront with her and tell her what's _really_ going on well.. you don't know what could happen."

"What are you implying here, Hanna?" Alison quizzed.

"Do you trust me?"

"Where are you going with this, Marin?"

"Just do what I said okay? Make Emily listen to you before you regret it and it'll be too late."

"Stop being so cryptic and spit it out whatever you're holding back, I'm getting tired of this."

"Ali.. Come on. Tell Emily what this is really about for both your sakes!"

"There's nothing to tell Hanna, what don't you understand?! Emily is done with me and that was her choice, not mine. What the hell are you even talking about?!"

"I know you're in love with Emily!" Hanna finally snapped, taking Alison aback.

Hanna glared at Hanna, clutching her bed sheets and biting her lip to refrain herself from hitting Hanna. "_What_? Are you fucking stupid? Are you hearing what is coming out of your mouth right now? You sound ridiculous. Why would you even come up with something like that?"

"Oh come on Ali, I've seen Bridesmaids, haven't you? What woman gives another woman a trip to Paris? _Lesbians_! Just stop lying to Emily and more importantly yourself. No one is going to judge you, we're your best friends."

"Your logic is so ridiculously stupid. Are you seriously going to use some stupid movie as evidence here? Get out, Hanna." Alison said sternly.

"You can deny it all you want but I see right through you. I'm not looking to start an argument with you, I know you're scared. I mean, remember how scared Emily was about coming out? She did it and people accepted her with the exception of a few so why shouldn't they accept you?"

"Hanna, I'm not going to say this again. Get. Out." Alison snapped.

Hanna flung her hands up in defeat and got up off the bed and walked towards the door. Before leaving, she turned back to Alison. "You know I'm here for you. I knew how hurt you were earlier, you love her, Alison." She finished and closed the door.

Alison stared at the space where Hanna stood at the door. At this point she was livid at Hanna. Who is she to say how she feels? How on Earth does she even know? Alison let out an exasperated sigh and swiped the photos she showed Hanna earlier in one swift motion off the bed, leaving them to scatter on the floor. Alison flipped herself round and dug her face into her pillow, preventing tears of anger escaping her.

* * *

**First of all, sorry for the delayed update. I was unsure about this whole chapter and ended up changing some parts over and over until I was somewhat happy with them. Sorry for any careless mistakes, I'll update them after I get some sleep.**

**Anyway, as always, thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows, I really appreciate them. **

**I will post the next chapter as soon as I can but I can't say exactly when because I never end up posting it on that day. Thanks for reading and I hope you're liking the story so far :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Kicking her legs and pushing herself through the water in her final lap, Emily became gradually more breathless. Each stroke only tired her arms more and a feeling of nausea washed over her. She knew her teammates were counting on her and more importantly all eyes in the stadium were on here. She realized she couldn't swim another meter further and stopped midway during her final lap. Taking deep breaths, Emily pulled the goggles and swim cap off her head and carelessly tossed them to the side, leaving the goggles to sink to the bottom of the pool and the cap floating away from her. Through the sounds of cheering and shouting, the sound of a whistle caught her attention but she never turned to look.

"Emily?! What are you doing?" Coach Fulton shouted from the side of the pool.

"Swim, Emily!" A teammate pleaded from the bottom, waiting to dive in as soon as Emily had finished her lap. The rest of the team were waiting just as eager, standing behind ready for their lap.

Not wanting to let them down, Emily took a deep breath and began swimming again although at a much slower speed than normal. The pressure and the short breaths were only making her light headed. With only 3 meters left, she pushed herself a bit further, just enough to reach the edge of the pool. Before she knew it, there was a figure diving above her and sighed in relief knowing her time was over.

"Emily, what happened out there?" Coach Fulton crouched down.

"I'm sorry, coach. I don't know." Emily sounded breathlessly, looking up at her.

"Next time, Emily." The coach said irritably and walked away.

Emily glanced around the stands looking for either of the girls and caught sight of Aria with a worried expression on her face and Spencer to her right with the exact same look. She sighed and used all of her upper body strength to jump and pull herself out of the water, searching for her towel. The second Emily stood on her feet, she instantly felt like she was going to pass out right there. Luckily out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a blonde haired girl walk in her direction.

"Em? Are you okay?" Hanna asked with her voice evident with worry.

"I'm fine." Emily replied bluntly as she dried herself with the towel.

"Don't get pissy with me, I'm just worried about you. Have you been to the doctor?"

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't need to go to the doctor, I said I'm fine."

Ignoring the first question, Hanna crossed her arms and raised her brow waiting on a confession from Emily. "If this is your definition of fine then so be it but everyone can see there's something wrong with you so instead of being a horrible friend acting like you're _fine_, I'm taking you to the doctor. Now go get dressed." Hanna gripped onto Emily's elbow and walked with her to the dressing room.

Emily, having no option to go anywhere, decided it was best to go with Hanna. She knew after all she was only trying to help. "I'm just tired, that's all. That's not an illness." Emily moaned as she grabbed her clothes from her locker.

"I don't care, we're all worried about you." Hanna sat down on the bench behind Emily. Emily turned around and sat her bag beside Hanna.

"Look after this, I'm going to shower."

10 minutes later, Emily returned fully clothed and lifted her bag from beside Hanna. "Let's go then, Marin."

The girls walked out of the dressing room and out into the school park. "Whose car?" Hanna asked.

"Um.. yours. Do you think you could drop me off here later?"

"Sure." Hanna dug her keys out from her purse and unlocked the car.

* * *

After calling to make an appointment and getting the last one of the day, Emily and Hanna finally arrived with 5 minutes to spare due to Hanna's speeding. With it being due to close shortly, there was plenty of parking spaces and Hanna pulled into one near the entrance. Once parked, she turned off the engine and looked over at Emily who was daydreaming out the window.

"Do you want me to come in?"

"Huh?" Emily asked, averting her eyes to Hanna.

"I asked if you wanted me to come in."

"Oh.. if you want." Emily shrugged.

"Come on then." Hanna grabbed her purse and left the car.

The girls walked through the double doors and into the reception where an old couple were seated and Emily made her way over to the lady behind the computer whilst Hanna took a seat.

"Hi. Emily Fields, I have an appointment at 4:50."

"Okay, Emily. Take a seat and the doctor should be with you shortly." The lady said as she typed. Emily walked over to Hanna and sat next to her.

"We can go to the Brew afterwards if you want some coffee or something." Hanna suggested.

"I wouldn't mind that." Emily smiled. "I just hope I don't spend too long in here."

"I'm sure they'll do a few tests or something and prescribe you with any meds if you need them, I don't think we'll be any longer than half an hour."

"I don't see how I'll need meds if there's nothing wrong with me." Emily raised her brow.

"You don't know that. Just wait and see what the doctor says, okay?"

"Okay." Emily breathed out.

When the pair fell silent, Hanna couldn't help but think what her and Alison discussed the previous week and whether or not she should let Emily know. After all, it wasn't any of her business and maybe it would be best for Emily and Alison to spend some time apart. That way, maybe they can both figure out what they want if Hanna's theory is correct although there was nothing to show it wasn't. Because Alison was still a sensitive subject to talk about, Hanna let the thought go to the back of her mind and remained waiting with Emily for the doctor to call on her.

Shortly, the doctor called and invited Emily through to a private room. Hanna didn't give Emily the option to choose whether or not she should join her, she went in anyway.

Emily explained what she had been feeling and had a few tests did on her and was diagnosed with anemia, a condition in which the amount of hemoglobin in the blood is below the normal level. For the next couple of weeks, she had seen ordered to get plenty of rest and was prescribed iron supplements to boost the levels of the iron in her body. All Emily hoped now was that people would stop bugging her about how ill and unhealthy she looks.

After receiving her medication, Emily and Hanna set off to the Grille for some coffee and Hanna didn't fail to tease Emily about how she was wrong, thinking there was nothing wrong with her. When Hanna approached traffic lights, she slowed down her speed and glanced over at Emily, wanting to break the silence they had been in for the past 10 minutes.

"Say what you want to say, Hanna." Emily let out, looking at her from the corner of her eye.

"I don't have anything I want to say." Hanna lied with a shrug.

"You've been strangely quiet since we left.. what's on your mind?"

"Nothing. I swear." Hanna gave Emily a reassuring smile.

"You know I can always tell when you're lying, right?" Emily raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? How can you?"

"Hanna.." Emily shook her head and laughed. "Just drive."

Noticing the light had just turned to green, Hanna took the handbrake off and drove towards the Grille. Since she guessed Emily wouldn't be doing much talking, she turned up the radio and the pair listened to the music for the remainder of the drive.

* * *

Emily and Hanna were both halfway through their coffees and were making casual conversation in their usual spot at the back of the shop where the couches were placed. As they talked, they were interrupted by the noise of Emily's phone buzzing in her pocket and Emily reached into it, curious to see who would text her.

"It's just Samara." Emily said with her eyes still glued to the screen, replying back.

"Samara, huh?" Hanna was surprised to see a smile creep on Emily's face.

"Yeah. She asked me out on a date." Emily placed her phone beside her coffee on the table.

"And..."

"And.. I said yes."

"Seriously? When did you guys start speaking?"

"Not that long ago actually. She's really sweet." Emily blushed but it was the truth. Ever since she and Samara had been talking, her mind was taken off Alison for a while and sometimes that's just what she needed.

"You _like_ her, don't you?" Hanna beamed and nudged Emily's side.

Emily blushed even harder. "I don't know, maybe?"

Despite how happy Emily looked in this moment, Hanna wanted to let Emily know about what was going on with Alison but couldn't bring herself to bring the topic up. She didn't know if Emily would be mad or just would have no interest in her at this time. Why would she after all when she's clearly thinking about someone else?

"So when's the date?" Hanna asked.

"She never said. I'm guessing the weekend but I'm not positive."

"Looking forward to it?" Hanna quizzed and brought the cup to her lips.

"I guess so. I just don't know what to wear. I mean, what if it's a fun date like bowling or the carnival or what if it's something romantic like going for dinner? What do I wear?" Emily panicked slightly.

"Relax." Hanna laughed. "She only just asked you, even she may not even be sure where to take you. Just ask her."

"Good point.. I'll worry about it when the time comes." Emily breathed a sigh of relief and sipped at her coffee as did Hanna.

"We better go, it's getting late." Hanna gathered her things and picked up her bag. "Are you finished?"

"Just about." Emily took one last drink of her coffee and stood up with Hanna. They both threw their cups into the trash and headed out. Emily reached into her pocket looking for her phone only to realize it wasn't there and froze in the spot. "I forgot my phone."

Hanna turned her head back to where they were seated and noticed the phone still laying on the table. With an eye roll, she walked back and grabbed it and handed it to Emily. "Close one." She laughed.

"Yeah.." Emily unlocked her phone and opened the door. With her eyes glued to screen, she felt herself walk into someone and let a curse word slip.

"Watch where you're going." The voice snapped and the girl lifted her head. Shit. "Oh it's you.." Alison stared at her.

Hanna stood by and watched the interaction between her and Emily. Emily would normally turn and walk away from Ali if she ever faced her but here she was stood in front her, feeling like her feet were glued to the floor. "Sorry." She muttered, meeting Alison's eyes.

After what seemed an eternity, Emily stepped to the side to let Alison inside but Alison never moved. She looked down at her shoes, twirling her thumbs.

"Come on, Han." Emily hooked her arm around Hanna's as Hanna brushed past Alison and headed to her car.

Emily opened the door to sit in the passenger seat and ran her fingers through her hair. Hanna closed her door and looked over at Emily as she spaced out.

"Just when you think you're getting over someone, you see them and realize you never really were.. " Emily muttered mostly to herself, laying her head back on the headrest, staring out the window.

Hanna reached over and intertwined their fingers, brushing her thumb over the back of Emily's hand. She was at a loss for words, how could she tell Emily to just move on when there's a possibility Alison may feel the same and want to be with her? "It'll be okay, Em. Time will tell everything." Is all she could say.

"Yeah.." Emily's eyes fell on Hanna again and she gave a faint smile. "Time."

* * *

Alison was still in awe from bumping into Emily although it wasn't a total shock to see her at the Brew. She knew the girls hanged out there often but she least expected to see her there at almost curfew. She ordered her usual skinny Latte and took a seat by the window. Although running into Emily was awkward, it was an improvement from the other times she had. This time, at least she didn't completely ignore her. For once, Emily actually acknowledged her presence. It wasn't a huge improvement but it was enough to make Alison feel slightly better about the situation. Remembering Hanna was with her, she couldn't help but wonder if she told Emily about the Paris thing or if she had kept it to herself. Even if she did, it would only be a matter of time until Hanna mentioned it to her. Alison jumped out of her thoughts and picked up her coffee and left the shop. She walked up the road to where her car was parked and drove home.

Once she arrived, before heading into the house, Alison rummaged around in her bag looking for her phone and pulled it out. She opened her texts and prepared to send one to Hanna.

**_Can we talk? -A_**

Alison shoved her phone back into her bag and left the car, carrying the coffee with her. Since it was a fairly nice night, she decided to sit by the pool. Alison walked to her backyard and sat at the edge of the pool and kicked her heels off. She then let her legs dangle freely over the edge with the coolness of the water relaxing her. Thinking Hanna would have texted back by now, she pulled her phone back out and noticed Hanna's name on the screen, indicating she had a new message.

_**Sure. Where? -H**_

_**My house, I'm round the back. Come alone. -A**_

Alison set her phone to the side and kicked her legs aimlessly in the water. She found it peaceful the way the water danced in the moonlight and admired the way the moon lit up the sky above her. Nights like this would be perfect for a stargazing date she thought. Although Alison was never one to be romantic, if she was with Emily, she could definitely see herself being lovesick and doing such sweet, romantic things she wouldn't ever do for anyone. Her only problem was was that it scared the hell out of her and she was handling it in the worst way possible.

Waiting for Hanna's arrival, Alison thought about what it would be like to not be afraid of her feelings, how different things would be if she was honest with Emily from the beginning. The thought of her with Emily today warmed her heart and she wished more than anything it was that way. If she ever saw Emily with someone else, she would be beyond heartbroken even if Emily deserved better and someone who made her happy, she couldn't help but think it was her own fault that Emily is pushing her away, probably because it was.

Fives minutes later, Hanna appeared and sat at the foot of one of the sunbeds. "Hey."

Alison lifted her legs from the water and stood up, shaking them like a dog would to get rid of the drips that were trailing down her legs. She sat on the sunbed beside Hanna's and crossed her legs, not knowing what to say to Hanna.

"So.. why did you need to talk?" Hanna spoke up.

Alison cleared her throat. "Firstly.. I just wanted to apologize for.. you know.. last week."

"Oh my God, is Alison DiLaurentis actually apologizing to someone?" Hanna reached out and placed her hand on Alison's forehead, pretending to check her temperature.

"Shut up." Alison pulled her head away and swatted Hanna's hand. "I'm trying to be serious here and if you can't take that then you may as well leave."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Ali, don't worry about last week. It's fine, I was out of line jumping to conclusions and assuming things, I'm the one who should be apologizing."

The pair fell silent for a few seconds as Alison thought through what she should say. She looked down at her hands and began twiddling her thumbs again, something she did often whenever she felt vulnerable or uncomfortable. "Actually Hanna, the reason I needed to talk to you was to tell you the truth."

Hanna's eyes widened slightly and she raised her brow. "Go on.."

Alison took a deep breath and couldn't bring herself to look Hanna in the eye. "Well, your _assumption_ was correct." She air quoted 'assumption', still looking down.

"You mean.. oh. Ali.. Why didn't you just say?"

"You don't understand what it's like to feel this way, Hanna. I'm so scared. Can you imagine what people will think if I come out? I'm Alison fucking DiLaurentis. I can't have people talking shit about me. I have a status, you know."

"So? Why should you care what others think of you? At the end of the day no one else's opinion matters, all that matters is that you're happy and that you can be yourself. If you like girls, or Emily, then that's completely fine. You can't help who you like or fall in love with, okay? I'm not saying tell people straight away but at least tell Emily, she deserves the truth." By the end of Hanna's sentence, tears prickled in Alison's eyes, all she had to do was blink and they would freely stream down her face. Upon noticing this, Hanna moved and sat beside Alison, pulling her into an embrace.

"Hey.. come on, don't cry. You can face anything. You're one of the bravest people I know, Ali. There's nothing to be afraid of. Emily came out, right? Look at all the support she got from people. It's really not as bad as you're thinking it will be, I promise." Hanna comforted her, stroking her hair. She released Alison from her embrace and wiped a tear that rolled down her cheek.

"I really messed up, Hanna. Emily doesn't want me." Alison tried to hold back a sob.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that but you have to tell her soon before it's too late, she's kind of already moving on." Hanna wrinkled her nose.

"What do you mean? How is she moving on?" Alison's voice sounded stronger.

"She's going out on a date with someone. but you can't let her know I told you, okay?"

"_What? _Who_?_ When is this date happening?" Alison wiped her tears away and suddenly she was back to her normal self.

"I don't know. Ali don't do something you'll regret, don't make Em hate you. That's the last thing you need. If you want to be with Emily, _show_ her, actions speak louder than words."

"And how the hell do I do that? I don't have a romantic bone in my body." Alison shrugged effortlessly.

"You'll think of something. I know you will." Hanna smiled reassuringly at her.

Alison returned the smile and stood up to gather her bag and shoes. "Thanks, Hanna. I know I can always count on you for being there for me."

"That's what friends are for." Hanna chirped and winked at her.

"So corny, go home." Alison laughed. "It must be pretty late." She looked up at the stars again admiring how beautiful the night sky was.

"Hush. I'm going anyway, see you at school." Hanna stood up and hugged Alison goodbye and walked back to her car.

Alison decided to call it a day and headed inside and upstairs to her bedroom. Before heading to bed, she stripped and showered before it got much later where she would probably be too tired. Just before she stepped into the shower, she looked at her naked figure in the mirror, specifically at her waist where she had gotten her tattoo. She trailed her finger over the ink and smiled at it, her thoughts consumed by Emily from it. Alison turned the shower on and waited for the water to turn hot and adjusted it until she found the right temperature and stepped in, letting the hot water run through her golden locks.

By the time Alison finished showering, it was around the time she normally went to sleep. She rung her hair out once more before climbing into bed and switched the bedside lamp off. Tonight, she was going to sleep more happier than she would normally feel considering tonight was the first time in weeks Emily had talked to her, even if it was only one word. She only wondered how Emily was feeling about her after what Hanna had mentioned earlier. Ever since she heard the news about Emily's date, she was adamant to do whatever she could to stop it from happening even if Emily still liked her. Just the thought of Emily being with someone else filled Alison with jealousy and when Alison got jealous, it could be dangerous.

* * *

The next morning.

"Honey?" Pam knocked on Emily's door.

"Come in." Emily said as she packed her books.

Pam opened the door and stepped in, having a quick glance around the room. "Have you taken your med?"

"Yeah I literally just took them."

"Okay.. You don't have to go to school if you don't feel like it. I just want you to get better."

"I might take you up on that offer. School is seriously draining me right now." Emily sat on her bed, contemplating on whether she should stay off or not.

Pam sat on the the other side of the bed, looking over at Emily. "It's up to you. You'll have to go back next week though, I don't want you to miss too much and fall behind."

"Hm.." Emily paused. "I don't think I have anything important this week so I won't be missing too much. Thanks, I could really use some time off." She smiled gratefully at Pam.

Pam flashed her a smile in return. "Well I have to take off to work now. Just call me if you need anything."

"Okay, I will do."

Pam stood up and walked out of the room, shouting bye as she did. When Emily heard the sound of the front door closing, she stood up and placed her bag back in its usual spot and wandered around the room, going through her phone and of course every time she searched through her contacts, Alison's name was always on top of the list. Emily still had her name saved the way she first had it, just saved as 'Ali'. She wondered if she had to unblock the number, how many messages would appear in her inbox, Emily's guess was none or at least a few. She scrolled down to select Hanna, Spencer and Aria's name to send a group text just to let them know she wouldn't be at school for the rest of the week and flung her phone gently back onto the bed, careful for it not to bounce off. All she had to do now was figure out what she was supposed to occupy herself for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, Alison was finishing touching up her makeup before heading off to school. She applied some red colored lipstick and sprayed some of her favorite Versace perfume on her neck area. She took one final look in the mirror at herself and set off to school. Seeing that it was another scorching day in Rosewood, she thought it would be best to drive since the car had AC and wouldn't be sweaty when she arrived at school. When she was about to leave her room, she noticed Spencer just getting into her car from her window but she never looked in Alison's way. Ever since Spencer had been informed about the whole thing between her and Emily, Emily wasn't the only one who ignored Ali, Spencer now was too. Alison couldn't blame her though, Spencer had every right to hate her at this point, she hadn't given much to redeem herself.

Before heading out, Alison shoved on a pair of sunglasses and made her way to school. Even from the short walk to the car she could feel the sun burning her skin. She revved the engine to life and pulled the car out of the driveway. She hoped today that maybe she can make more improvement with Emily if she was lucky enough. Surely that wouldn't be too much to ask.

Hanna, Spencer and Aria were sat on the bench outside when Alison spotted them. She made her way over and leaned against the wall opposite them, fanning herself with her hand.

"It's like 100 degrees, why are you outdoors?" Alison asked.

"We're in the shade, it's not that bad." Aria claimed.

Not bothering to continue complaining about the weather, Alison scanned the area looking for any sign of Emily. She knew she would be here soon as there was only 10 minutes until first period and it was very rarely Emily was ever late. She turned back to face the girls, waiting patiently for her.

"I'm bringing Toby. What about you, Hanna, is Caleb coming? Spencer asked.

"Caleb can't make it, he doesn't come back until next weekend." Hanna heaved a sigh. Alison couldn't understand why Hanna stuck with Caleb when he's never in town or spending as much time with her. Alison didn't pay much attention to the reason why Caleb was gone for so long, all she knew was that he was in Ravenswood a lot of the time doing god knows what. Part of Alison felt sorry for Hanna, she couldn't imagine being away from Emily that long and they weren't even together.

"Is this about Noel's party?" Alison asked, including herself to the conversation.

"Yep." Spencer replied dryly.

"Are any of you planning on staying sober?"

"Not me." Hanna was first to speak, raising her hand and earning a look from the other two. "What? It's a party. Live a little." She rolled her eyes.

"And you two?" Alison asked Spencer and Aria.

The two exchanged a look and shrugged.

"I might have something to drink. Why?" Aria asked.

"Well if none of us are going to be sober we'll have to sort out taxi arrangements."

"Oh yeah.." Hanna stared off into space.

"Anyway, we'll sort that out on the night." Alison said, taking another glance around. Still no show of Emily. "I'm going to the bathroom. Hanna, come with?"

Spencer and Aria looked at Hanna with wary eyes but Hanna agreed to go. Alison linked their arms and pushed through the stuffy halls filled with people and swung the bathroom door open and locked it behind her. She took a quick look under the stalls and thankfully saw they were alone.

"You didn't say anything to Spence and Aria, right?" Alison asked.

"Of course not. Why?"

"Good.. Just wondering. Where's Em? She's normally here by now."

"Em won't be back until next week. She sent a text earlier." Hanna said as she walked over to the mirror to check herself out.

Alison's eyes followed her. "Why? Is she okay?"

"Um.. She has this thing.. Ammonia.. Amia.." Hanna furrowed her brow.

"Han, I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure ammonia is a gas." Alison smirked. "I think you mean anemia?"

"That's it." Hanna snapped her fingers. "anemia. Yeah.. she'll be recovered in a week or two the doctor said."

"Oh.. Shame." Alison said genuinely. "At least it's nothing too serious. Do you think she'll make it to the party on Friday?"

Hanna turned around to face Alison. "She hasn't said anything about it. Hopefully she'll come but I can't blame her if she doesn't."

"I hope she does.." Alison trailed off.

Hanna examined Alison's face and noticed her sudden change of mood. "You really miss her, huh?"

"Yeah.. A lot actually." Alison admitted. Over the past week, Hanna was sure she had never seen Alison so vulnerable and real in all her life.

Before Hanna could say something, the bell rang signaling the beginning of first period. Alison hooped her arm back through Hanna's and they walked to their first class of the day - Spanish. Just another class in Alison's list of pointless subjects. She had no intentions in ever going to Spain in her life and even if she did, she already knew the basic words.

* * *

Alison leaned against the wall in the cafeteria as Hanna got water from the vending machine. Spencer and Aria were near the back of the hall, already eating and talking away. Alison was spacing out staring off into space which Hanna didn't fail to notice. Hanna shoved the rest of her money back into her purse as she glanced at Alison.

"What's up, Ali? You haven't been yourself today." Hanna asked with her voice full of concern.

Alison lazily shifted her gaze to Hanna. "It's complicated, Han."

"Things will start to look up soon.. believe me." Hanna rubbed Alison's forearm. "You haven't eaten yet, aren't you hungry?"

"I'll eat when I get home. I just wish this day was over with." Alison let out a sigh. "Let's go sit." She made her way over to join Spencer and Aria with Aria walking by her side. As she pulled the chair out to sit, Aria and Spencer fell quiet, earning themselves a look from Ali as if to say whatever. Alison knows what she did was hurtful and how it looked from their side but they didn't know the full story or at least the truth. After days of being treated like she didn't exist to Aria and Spencer, Alison no longer cared. At least she still had Hanna.

"I don't bite." Alison rolled her eyes at Spencer.

"Sometimes I think you just might.. I mean being a cold hearted bitch and all, sometimes it's not like your even human." Spencer answered. Aria bit harder down into her sandwich suppress a smirk and turned her head to the side.

Hanna looked at Alison anxiously then to Spencer. The tension could be cut with a knife.

"Does it look like I care?" Alison asked as calmly as she could.

"Nope.. you don't care about anything do you? Or anyone for that matter."

"Shut up, Spence." Hanna snapped.

Spencer looked taken aback from Hanna's comment and frowned at her. "What the hell, you're actually defending her?"

Alison glared at Spencer. "Hanna's been a greater friend to me than either of you ever have."

"You don't even deserve anyone, Alison. Not Hanna, not us and especially not Emily. You're a bitch and everyone knows it." Aria added herself to the argument, she held her tongue for long enough about the situation and this only infuriated her more.

"Who sharpened your tongue, little girl?" Alison smirked at Aria.

Aria huffed and shoved another piece of her sandwich into her mouth. Arguing with Alison would only add more fuel to the fire and she knew for a fact Alison would have to get the last word in. When it came to her and Spencer bumping heads, both of them found it hard to let it slide hence their stubborn personalities. Usually it was left to Aria or Hanna to break up the fight.

"Go to hell, Ali. Where you belong." Spencer narrowed her eyes with her face full of disgust.

Hanna stood up, pushing her chair out in the process. "Come on, Ali. You don't have to listen to this."

Alison lurched forward and raised her hand to Spencer ready to hit her and Spencer flinched the second Alison curled her first. Before Alison got the chance to take action, she felt Hanna's hand forcefully pull her wrist down and frowned at her.

"Don't even think about it." Hanna warned her sternly and pulled her away from the table.

Alison yanked her hand out of Hanna's grip. "Whose side are you on here?"

"Yours but that doesn't mean I'm all for you being violent towards Spencer. Grow up, Ali."

Alison tutted at Hanna and followed her to wherever she was walking. Anywhere away from Spencer and Aria was good enough for her right now. Her blood boiled from the pair and she felt like she could ruin them. If Hanna wasn't there, she'd have a hell of a sore fist and Spencer would likely be cleaning blood from her nose.

Hanna led them to a table at the far end of the cafeteria out of Spencer and Alison's sight. Her and Alison sat opposite each other and Hanna pulled out her phone from her bag. "I wonder how Em's doing. Maybe I should give her a text." She thought aloud.

Alison said nothing and sat with her head leaning on her hand, not really paying attention to what Hanna was saying due to how annoyed she still was at Spencer. Hanna swiped her phone and began typing a text to Emily.

_**Hey! Feeling any better? I've got news for you-H**_

_**Feeling slightly better than yesterday :) What kinda news? -E**_

_**Good. Um kinda shocking but funny. I'll fill you in after school -H**_

"Who are you texting?" Alison asked as she twirled her hair around her finger, finally calming down.

"I told you. Emily." Hanna sat her phone on the table waiting for Emily to reply.

"Oh. How is she?"

"She says she's feeling slightly better than yesterday."

Alison smiled in relief, she was just glad it wasn't any serious illness Emily had. A few seconds later, Hanna's phone lit up indicating she had a new text from Emily.

_**Now I'm really curious.. Okay, see you then -E**_

Hanna checked the time and slipped her phone back into her bag. She still had 20 minutes before next period which she just remembered was Math, the only class her and Emily were alone in. Considering Emily wasn't here, she couldn't sit through a double lesson without her and thought about skipping. Also, Alison was free for the last two lessons of the day so she wouldn't be alone.

"You're free next, right?" Hanna asked.

"Yep. Enjoy class." Alison teased her.

"I was actually thinking about skipping since Em won't be there. How on Earth am I supposed to sit through a double period of math without her? That'd be hell." Hanna claimed.

"Well I wish I could spend time with you but I have things to care of, I won't have much time." Alison gave her a regretful smile.

"I shouldn't even be skipping in the first place." Hanna sighed. "I guess I'll just go then."

"Suit yourself."

* * *

Later that day, school had just finished and Hanna was driving over to Emily's house with the AC on the highest setting, almost cold enough to give her goosebumps. Once she arrived, she parked on the side of the pavement outside Emily's house and entered without knocking as she usually did.

"It's me, Em." Hanna called out as she closed the door. A few seconds later, Emily appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Hey." Emily made her way downstairs in sweatpants and a vest top.

"I see you made an effort today." Hanna laughed, looking Emily up and down.

"Shut up. I'm not gonna sit around the house all day wearing skinny jeans, am I?" Emily raised her brow and walked into the kitchen.

"Good point." Hanna said thoughtfully and followed Emily.

"Do you want anything to eat?"

"What you got?" Hanna leaned over the counter.

Emily opened up the cupboard and scanned inside. "Bagels... Pancakes.. Oreos.. Cookies."

"Cookie." Hanna butted in before Emily got the chance to continue her list.

Emily tiptoed to reach the bag of cookies on the top shelf and got one for herself and Hanna.

"You missed a lot today." Hanna said as she took the cookie from Emily and took a bite.

Emily sat on a stool on the opposite side of the counter from Hanna. "Well, do tell."

"It all happened at lunch. We all got into a fight."

Emily's mouth slightly gaped open. "Over what?"

"Well Spence and Alison started their bickering and one thing led to another and Aria and I got involved. Some words were exchanged and Alison almost took a swing at Spencer. I guess it got pretty heated." Hanna shook her head although she found it amusing.

"Alison almost hit Spencer? She must have been mad." Emily had a slight look of concern on her face. "What started this? Is this because of the whole thing between Ali and I?"

"I guess you could say that. Spencer is so mad at her."

"I specifically told her not to do anything about this." Emily frowned.

"You know Spence. She's too protective. Can't hold her tongue about anything." Hanna said with an eye roll.

Emil nervously chewed the inside of her cheek. "Is Ali mad at me for telling them?"

Hanna thought for a moment, Alison was anything but mad at Emily. "No.. No I don't think so."

There was a moment of silence between the girls with Hanna still being unsure whether or not to talk about Alison, not wanting to give too much away. If Alison was ready to tell Emily everything, she would. Although Emily wasn't speaking to Alison, she still wanted to know if she was okay or not, no matter how much she tried to convince herself that she hated her.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Emily asked, changing the subject.

"Would your mom mind?"

"Not at all. She loves you." Emily smiled.

"I guess so then. I better text mine to let her know." Hanna shoved the last piece of her cookie into her mouth.

* * *

After staying behind to help Emily and Pam clean up after dinner, Hanna had just left to go back home leaving Emily to her own devices. Emily dried the last plate in the rack and placed it in the overhead cupboard. Before going upstairs, Emily took another pill and headed up. For the rest of the night, she planned on relaxing, showering and then having an early night. She entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her and turned the radio on. The song currently playing was one of her favorites, Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's. She quietly sang along softly to the song and lifted the book Great Expectations from her vanity and nestled her head into the pillows on the bed, flicking to the page bookmarked. For the next hour, Emily read peacefully as she listened to the radio, enjoying the time she had with no distractions.

After a while of reading, Emily began finding it hard to read due to how dark it had gotten and she had been so focused on the book she hadn't bothered to put the lamp on. She placed the bookmark on the page and closed the book and chucked it to the side. Just as she was about to get up off the bed, she heard a knock on the door, assuming it was her mom.

"Come in." Emily shouted.

The door opened and Emily leaned over to switch the lamp on.

"These are apparently for you." Pam said, making her way over to Emily's bed.

Emily changed position to face her mom and her eyes dropped to what Pam held in her hand.

"Those are for me?" Emily asked disbelievingly.

Pam held a beautiful bouquet of fuschia roses in her hands. She took them from her mother and noticed there was an envelope attached to the side with Emily's name written on it. Emily met her mother's gaze and frowned in confusion. Pam handed them over to her and Emily carefully took them, careful not to bash them. She tore off the envelope from the plastic and cautiously opened it. She slid the card out of the envelope and the words 'Get Well Soon' were printed on front of the card. She furrowed her brow intentionally and opened the card, instantly recognizing the handwriting by the first word.

_To Emily,_

_Get well soon,_

_Love Ali x_

_P.S i'm sorry._

Emily's stomach dropped and her eyes stayed glued to the card.

"From anyone special?" Pam spoke up, bringing Emily out of her trance.

"Uh.. no. Nope." Emily looked up and forced a smile.

"They're really beautiful flowers. I'm almost jealous." Pam shook her head and laughed. "Hang on and I'll go get a vase." Pam left the room to get a vase from the cupboard.

While Pam was gone, Emily set the card on the bedside table and picked up the flowers, admiring them. The roses and red matsumoto asters looked stunning with the pink carnations and lush greens, she was sure these were the most beautiful flowers she'd seen to this day. Not only were they that, they smelled as pretty as they looked, slightly musky and sweet but refreshing. Emily brought them up to her face and sniffed them, the soothing smell of them reminded her just of Alison and she couldn't understand why. Why Alison would even do this for her in the first place, Emily didn't know.

* * *

**A/N: First thing's first, sorry for the delayed update. I've been so busy over the past month but now I'm on spring break so I'll have more time to update! I see other's update their fics weekly and I feel bad because I wish I had the time to do that. I'm really loving these two other Emison stories, Stolen Sunsets: The Alluring Facade by AsaMoritz and Let Me Love You by BrittzandTana. If you haven't read them (which I'm sure you have anyway) give them a chance, they're great.**

**Anyway, onto the chapter... Alison's last move, was it surprising? ;) It was kind of out of character but I need to make some changes for her development in the story so there we have her first move. And about Emily's whole anemia thing, I read a review saying maybe there was actually something wrong with Emily so that's what made me decide to give her that. Anyway, as always, thanks for the follows/reviews/favorites guys. I'll update as soon as I can xo**


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm not one for putting author's notes and the beginning of a chapter but I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews, they really motivate me so thank you thank you thank you! AsaMoritz, I always look forward to reading your reviews, thank you for the time you take to write them and to everyone else! __I originally planned to post this chapter on Friday but I got busy and didn't have time to finish it but on the bright side, at least I didn't take almost a month update ;) I was contemplating on ending this chapter the way I did and decided to make the next chapter a lead on from the ending.. just because ;)  
__Sorry if there are any mistakes, it's almost 2am and my eyes are burning._

_Anyway, onto the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Admitting to Hanna she's falling for Emily somewhat put her mind at ease now that it wasn't something she had to keep bottled up. Finally, there was someone to open up to and know she wouldn't be judged for whatever she had to say. Hanna was great like that, when it came to her friends, she would support them no matter what.

Alison finished curling her hair and unplugged the curlers from the socket. Before heading out, she applied some hairspray to her hair to keep loose curls in place and took a final look in the mirror at her appearance. There had still been no mention of the time of Emily's date with Samara, all Alison knew was it couldn't be this weekend since Hanna informed her about going to a college open day, a college almost 300 miles from Rosewood. The thought of Emily and Samara being official and moving after graduation never failed to cross Alison's mind but she knew the idea was ridiculous and seemed unlikely at the moment.

A few days had passed by and there had been no contact between Alison and Spencer, not that she was all that bothered. What did bother her was that Emily still made no effort with her even after receiving her bouquet. Of course, Alison knew it would take a lot more than a card and flowers to have Emily back in her life but that didn't prevent her from getting hurt. She knows she broke Emily's heart and they aren't easy to mend especially when you're the reason it's broken. At this point, Alison had no intentions of trying to be with Emily, all that mattered to her was their friendship. She was only beginning to realize how important Emily was to her and how she took her for granted.

Alison and Hanna both agreed to go shopping after school for an outfit for Noel's party which was happening tomorrow evening. It had been a while since either of the girls had been to any parties and they each thought it would be good to have a little fun considering they don't have much of that these days. Alison put the keys into the ignition of her jeep and pulled out of the driveway heading to pick up Hanna.

* * *

Emily was back to her normal self thanks to her medication she was provided by the doctor. The school week consisted of mostly catching up on missed assignments but other than that, the week had been pretty much a breeze. She and Samara had spent most days together. They would sit together at lunch and they had turns of going over to each other's houses. Just 5 minutes ago, Samara pecked Emily on the lips and headed home to prepare for her flight which left later that night.

Once Samara had left, Emily returned to her bedroom and sprinkled some water over the flowers sent by Alison. As she did, a feeling of guilty passed through her as it always did each time she watered them but she soon remembered the reason why she was ignoring Alison and to Emily, it would take a lot more than flowers to show how sorry she was. She walked back downstairs and drained the water down the sink and placed the can back into the cabinet it came from. It was still undecided whether or not Emily wanted to go to Noel party tomorrow evening since Samara wouldn't be here to go with her and it would be awkward if she decided to go with the other four girls. If she didn't go, she would spend the full weekend indoors, something she really didn't want to do. She had given the party some thought over the week yet still couldn't make up her mind about it. Considering she had to make up her mind by tomorrow, Emily slipped her phone out from her back pocket and dialed Spencer's number. After a few rings, there was a connection.

"Hey, Spence."

"Wassup, Em?" Spencer asked from the other end of the line.

"I was just wondering, will you be going with Han and Ali to Noel's party tomorrow? I mean, I heard about your little fall out last week and I wasn't sure.."

"Are you thinking of coming? It will just be Aria and I tomorrow, you're welcome to come with us if you want."

"I've been giving it some thought and I think I might. I don't wanna waste a weekend indoors doing nothing," Emily pondered while she wandered around.

"That's cool. Okay well I'll let Ar know and come around to mine say.. Seven tomorrow?"

"That sounds great. Thanks, Spence. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Em," Spencer ended the call.

Emily placed her phone on the counter and decided to make a start on as her mother wouldn't be home until late as she was every Friday. Not being bothered to cook something too difficult, she opened the fridge searching for the margarita pizza she knew Pam had bought a few days ago and removed it from the box. She switched the oven on and placed the pizza inside.

* * *

Alison had been dragging Hanna around almost every shop in the mall, still looking for an outfit. Hanna had been able to pick a dress within the first 10 minutes of looking, settling for a white embellished bodycon dress with matching white heels. Alison on the other hand couldn't find anything she liked or at least would feel comfortable wearing. The pair entered yet another shop and Alison headed straight to the dress section.

"My back hurts," Hanna moaned as she stood crossing her arms and legs.

"Quit complaining. You could at least help look," Alison suggested, leaning over her shoulder as she raked through the rack of dresses.

Hanna set her bags down beside her and searched through another rack searching for a suitable dress. Personally, she thought Alison would look great in almost anything. She had the perfect figure for any type of dress and even if she wasn't exactly on the tall side, her legs were still amazing and were perfectly toned which I'm sure Emily would agree with. She pulled out a hush violet colored dress and made her way over to Alison.

"Here. Try this," Hanna said handing her the dress.

Alison turned to face Hanna and she held the dress against her body. She thought for a moment and looked at Hanna, "What do you think of it?"

"I love it. If I hadn't gotten this one I would've gotten that for myself," Hanna tilted her head.

Alison looked around the store searching for the changing rooms and noticed the sign on the wall in the far right corner, displaying changing rooms, "I'll try it on," she walked towards the rooms with Hanna following behind.

Alison entered through into the rooms looking for one available. Down the far end, she spotted one with an open door and hurried down to it. She walked in and closed the door behind her and hung the dress on the hook that was just above her head on the back of the door.

Once Ali removed all her items of clothing, she stepped into the dress and pulled it up her body, only realizing she would need someone to zip the back of it. She grabbed her phone from her jacket pocket and sent a text to Hanna, saying she needed her.

Hanna arrived within a matter of seconds and stepped into the tiny stall with Alison.

"Zip this for me," Alison requested and pushed her hair over to one side.

Hanna dumped the bags onto the floor and pulled the zip halfway up Alison's back as Alison watched her in the mirror in front. When Hanna pulled away, Alison stared in the mirror at her reflection, admiring the dress. She had to admit, she liked this a lot more than the dresses she previously tried on. It hugged her petite curves perfectly and the color really complimented her skin tone well.

"You know what I think?" Hanna asked.

"What?"

"I think you look totally sexy and that's coming from someone straight," Hanna smirked.

Alison couldn't help but laugh at the statement, "Okay. I guess I'll go for this one."

"_Finally_. Now all we have to get you is shoes. How about I go look out a pair while you change?"

"Yeah, okay. I'll be out in a few minutes," Alison answered. "Better unzip this before you go."

Hanna unzipped the dress and left Alison to get changed. She wandered around the store looking for a pair of heels to go with the dress she picked for Ali, almost spoiled for choice. There were a wide variety of shoes and heels to choose from with the whole back area of the store being stocked with nothing but them. Surely she would find a pair for Alison here. Hanna scanned the shelves and since Ali hadn't specified which size, Hanna only knew she was looking for something that matched the color of the dress. She picked up a pair of white and gold platforms and could see Alison wearing something like these. She took a seat waiting on Alison to return with the shoe in her hand, still looking around for any others she would like.

A few minutes later, Alison approached with the dress in her hands and noticed the heel Hanna held. Before saying anything, she took the shoe from Hanna, turning it around to see it from every angle, "Not bad."

"They're gorgeous," Hanna smiled. "Get them."

Alison pondered for a moment. "I may as well. I'm honestly tired of looking now."

"Great!" Hanna piped up. "Go get them in your size. I'll wait here."

Once Hanna and Aria had left the mall, they walked back to the car and dumped the bags in the back seats and took off home. The majority of the drive was quiet, both just listening to the radio before Hanna suggested they go to Starbucks before entering Rosewood.

* * *

For the rest of Friday night, Spencer insisted that Emily should join her and Aria for a sleepover seeing as Hanna seemed to be spending most of her time with Alison. Emily raised her fist and knocked on the door although Spencer had told her a numerous amount of times that knocking isn't necessary although with Emily being Emily, it was just simple manners to her. Emily gripped on tightly to the strap of her bag waiting for either of the girls to answer.

"Em, you came," Aria greeted her with a warm smile and stood to the side to let Emily inside.

"Figured I may as well. I wasn't doing much else," Emily replied with a shrug.

Aria closed the door and followed Emily through to the living room where Spencer was seated with her legs draped over the edge of the sofa, a bowl of popcorn in her hands focused on the TV.

"Hey, Spence," Emily sat on the chair opposite and set her bag down beside her.

"Hey. Glad you came. Hungry?" Spencer asked, shifting her position and sat the bowl down on the table that separated the two chairs.

"Not really, I ate not that long ago."

"Aria and I just ordered pizza," Spencer announced and looked over her shoulder at Aria who was now just making her way back over to the pair. Before taking her seat, she chucked Emily a soda and planted herself back down into the spot beside Spencer.

"Pizza is what I just had, actually," Emily laughed.

"Well, you're welcome to grab a slice if you feel like it," Spencer smiled at her. "So, how have you been?"

Emily hefted a deep sigh as she opened the can, "Alright I guess. Getting better. What about you guys? I feel like I hardly see you anymore."

"Pretty good. We miss hanging out with you, Em."

"Yeah, I know. I just wish things could go back to the way they used to be."

"_Everything_?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow.

It took Emily a few seconds until she realized what Aria meant, "Well, not everything. I just wish.. you know.. I just wish I could erase the past and move on from everything that's happened."

"That's the thing about the past, you can't erase it. The only thing you can do is never look back and move on with your life," Spencer's eyes misted with a look of nostalgia.

Noticing the sudden shift of mood, Emily averted her eyes to the TV, picking up that Spencer and Aria were halfway through a movie when she appeared. "What's this?" She asked, referring to the movie.

"Love Actually," Aria stated and squinted at the clock. "Pizza should be here soon. I'm starved."

Spencer snorted, "You know, for a little person, you sure do eat a lot."

Aria gave a nonchalant shrug, "I'm still growing."

Emily and Spencer both eyed Aria with eyes to say '_come on_'.

"So have you seen much of Han?" Spencer asked.

"She came round after school earlier this week but I don't see her as much anymore. You know.. because she's always with Alison."

"I'm guessing she told you about our argument, huh?" Spencer smirked.

"Yeah. I can't believe she tried to hit you."

"Well, I can. Alison's capable of anything."

"Too right," Aria agreed and nodded.

"Did you see the look she gave me in English today?" Spencer asked.

Aria snorted, "If looks could kill."

"Can we just not talk about her for once? Not everything has to be about her," Emily's tone sounded slightly defensive.

"Sure.. Sorry, Em," Spencer awkwardly said.

Surprised by Emily's comment, Aria swiftly changed the topic, "So.. excited for tomorrow?" she glanced at Emily.

"Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to it now. How about you guys?" Emily kicked off her boots to the side and brought her knees to her chest.

"Same, can't wait. Hanna is just going with Ali since Caleb won't be here. I'm bringing Toby, I hope that's alright?"

Emily raised an eyebrow at Spencer. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know," Spencer chuckled, "Stupid question really."

* * *

Halfway through the third movie of the night, an empty pizza box and cans of soda lay on the table between the chairs and Emily had lost interest in the movie unlike Spencer and Aria, who seemed to be enjoying it so far. Emily stood up, feeling the relief of stretching her legs after being sat in the same position for over two hours.

"I'm gonna get some fresh air, be back in five," Emily said quietly and ventured into Spencer's backyard.

"Okay," Spencer whispered, looking over the back of the sofa.

Once the door had closed, Emily wandered around on her phone before leaning against the wall as she scrolled through her contacts, finding Samara's name. She hit the call button and waited for her to pick up.

"Emily?" She heard the familiar voice.

"Hey. I just wanted to call before your flight. I know it takes off soon," Emily smiled as she twirled her hair around her finger.

"That's sweet of you. I'll be back before you know it, it's only for a few days."

"Yeah.. So, are you nervous?"

"About what? Flying?"

"Yeah. I'm not too fond of planes," she laughed.

"Nope, I'm good. I've flown quite a few times. I mean, I was scared the first time but now it doesn't bother me."

"That's good. Anyway, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing, I don't want to hold you up."

"Okay, Em. I'll see you on Monday."

"Bye, have a safe flight."

"Bye."

And with that, Emily hung up and shoved her phone back into her pocket.

Emily found this moment incredibly peaceful. There was nothing to distract her from her thoughts with Spencer and Aria glued to the TV and with it being this late, she wasn't expecting anyone to randomly show up in Spencer's backyard. Well, except her parents. Emily took a deep breath and headed back indoors. As suspected, neither Spencer or Aria had moved from the couch and Emily took her seat, only now noticing Aria's eyes were closed.

"Is she sleeping?" Emily whispered.

Spencer nodded in return, "Lightweight," she laughed silently.

"Pretty tired myself," Emily yawned.

Spencer gently lifted Aria's legs from her own and shifted to lay them on the sofa. She rolled her shoulders, stretching her legs as she did and grabbed the remote from the table and switched the TV off.

"You can head on up. I'll just leave Aria down here."

"Okay," Emily moved from her spot on the chair and dragged herself upstairs.

Before following, Spencer went around the living room and kitchen switching the lights off and pulled a blanket over Aria as she slept, knowing if she didn't, Aria would probably wake up cold due to the AC. Spencer hurried up the stairs and entered her bedroom to find Emily already laying on the bed on top of the covers.

"Too hot?" Spencer asked.

Emily turned her head to see Spencer stand at the foot of the bed, "Yeah."

Spencer flicked the AC to the highest setting, enough for Emily to cool down and fall asleep. Once she felt the cold air breeze out, she climbed in bed beside Emily and switched her bedside table lamp off.

"Just switch it off whenever you're cool enough," Spencer handed Emily the remote.

"Okay. G'night Spence."

"Night, Em."

* * *

When morning came, Spencer was the first to waken as per and tiptoed out of the bedroom and downstairs to a still sleeping Aria. She smiled at the sight of her tinier friend, arm draping over the edge of the sofa and her tousled hair with the blanket only covering her legs. It was almost routine whenever either of the girls stayed over, Spencer would waken first around the same time every morning and would prepare breakfast for them each time she did. With today being no different, Spencer decided on making blueberry pancakes for when they waken up.

While Spencer fiddled around in the kitchen searching out pans and cutlery, Aria stirred in her sleep and rubbed at her eyes. She slowly sat up and looked over into the kitchen, not being able to see Spencer until she stood up from behind the counter.

"Morning," Aria spoke with her voice full of sleep.

"O-oh, morning. Did I waken you?" Spencer screwed her face.

"Yeah. Time to get up anyway, no worries."

"Do you have plans?" Spencer asked while she whisked the egg whites.

"I'm gonna go see Ezra before tonight," Aria glanced at the clock. "I told him I'd be there at 12."

"Okay, that's fine."

Aria lifted herself from the sofa stretching her arms. "Em still asleep?"

"Yeah. We went to sleep not long after you fell asleep last night."

Aria wandered over and took a seat at the island."What you making?"

"Blueberry pancakes. That okay?"

"Great," Aria smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile in the DiLaurentis household, Alison and Hanna were both still in a deep slumber until Mrs. DiLaurentis barged into the room, unaware Hanna stayed over.

"I don't want you spending most of the day in bed, get up, Alison," Mrs. DiLaurentis walked over to the curtains and opened them, allowing rays of sunshine to shine directly in Alison's face.

"Ugh mom, get out," Alison moaned and flipped sides to face Hanna.

Jessica made her way back over to the door and before leaving, she looked over at Alison, "It's almost noon, come on," she ordered and walked out.

Alison hefted a sigh and shook Hanna in order to waken her, "Han, time to get up."

Upon doing so, Hanna's brow furrowed and she pushed Alison's hand away, "Stop. 10 more minutes."

"Okay. 10 more," Alison gave in.

Those 10 minutes turned into 20, to 30 and then to another hour. Hanna was first to waken this time and she propped herself up on her elbow, searching for her phone under her pillow. She slid it out from underneath and lit up the screen to check the time, which stated 13:05.

"Ali," Hanna gave her a light slap on the cheek.

"Up. It's way past noon," she got out of bed and gathered her clothes to go get dressed in the bathroom.

Alison let out a groan and ran her fingers through her hair. She kicked the covers off her and trudged over to her wardrobe to pull out today's outfit. Short shorts and a flannel light pink and white shirt to go with.

Once Hanna had retreated from the bathroom, she returned back to Alison's bedroom to find her at her vanity applying her makeup.

"I was thinking maybe we could go out for lunch to the Grille or something. What do you say?" She asked.

"Fine with me," Alison replied as she applied some eyeliner and one with flick, she was finished, "Let's go."

* * *

For the remainder of the day, Aria had gone on a date with Ezra to a bar while Spencer spent her time with Toby and Emily had gone to the hairdressers for some work to be done. Hanna had gotten into another argument with Caleb regarding their relationship and how Hanna thought it wasn't working out with him being gone most of the time with the moral support of Alison. Despite the argument, neither of them decided to call the relationship off which Ali couldn't understand. Hanna's excuse was that some couples just need time apart otherwise they would constantly be down each other's throats. Of course, Alison knew Hanna would say anything to cover for Caleb, she did love him after all.

"I'm loving your hair, Em. You really suit it," Spencer complimented as she waved Emily's now ombre hair through her fingers.

"You do, Em," Toby agreed.

"Thanks, guys," Emily looked down at Spencer's fingers.

"Ready to go, ladies? Spencer asked.

"Just about. Forgot my bag," Aria hurried upstairs.

"I'm all set," Emily stood by Spencer.

"You look gorgeous, Spencer," Toby wrapped his arm around Spencer's waist.

Spencer lay her hand over Toby's chest and pressed a light kiss to his lips, "Thank you, handsome."

Seconds later, Aria returned to join the rest of the group.

"Ready now?" Spencer asked.

"Yep. Let's go."

The group headed outside to the taxi that waited for them and climbed in with Toby in the front seat and the three girls in the back.

"What's the bets we run into Ali tonight," Spencer asked rhetorically.

"Even worse, she'll likely be drunk," Aria said with an eye roll.

"I just hope Hanna keeps her away from us. I trust she will."

"Are you guys ever gonna let this go?" Emily asked.

"Let what go?" Spencer asked, "The fact that she strung you along and broke your heart in the end?"

Emily shook her head, "Are you really going to hate her forever?"

"Don't you hate her?"

"I don't hate anyone," Emily answered simply, "There's too much hatred in people for no reason. That's what's wrong with this world."

"But Ali has given you a reason to hate her. Why don't you?"

"Just drop it, Spencer. Ali has done things for me neither of you will ever understand or know about."

"Things like what? We all know what she's like, Em. If you ever forgive her, she'll have you exactly where she wants again, wrapped around her little finger."

Toby leaned over, eyeing the girls.

"Can you both just drop it?" Aria spoke up, "Let's just enjoy ourselves tonight, no drama for once, okay?"

"Sorry," Spencer mumbled.

"Yeah, me too," Emily said quietly.

It wasn't long until the girls arrived and Spencer tipped the driver before he took off, telling him they wanted picked up at 1 AM.

Emily and Aria walked together as Spencer and Toby followed behind with Toby's arm around her shoulders. The music from the cabin became louder with each closer step they took, currently an Enrique Iglesias song was oozing through the speakers. Outside, there were numerous people standing in their each individual groups with most of them holding a beer bottle in their hands. Emily and Aria pushed through the door, the music almost deafening to them. Two large speakers were placed at the side of each door and the vibrations from the bass could be felt throughout the whole cabin. In the middle of what seemed to be the living room, a pool table had been placed with a few people gathered around it watching the game currently being played by two guys neither Emily or Aria knew. Emily turned around, taking in the sights around her and noticed Spencer and Toby were no longer with them.

"Drink?" Emily shouted in Aria's ear.

Aria nodded in response and hooked her arm through Emily's as they made their way to the kitchen.

Emily and Aria both scanned the table which was full of various drinks and her eyes came across a tray of shots placed in the center.

"Shot?" Emily smirked.

Aria hesitated for a moment, "Why not?"

Emily lifted a glass for herself and Aria and grinned at Aria, "Ready?"

Aria nodded.

"Three, two, one!" Emily and Aria downed their shots with a cringe springing on both of their faces.

As Emily dared Aria another shot, Alison and Hanna were just being dropped off. They stepped out of the taxi and were immediately greeted by Noel.

"Alison, Hanna. Glad you could make it," Noel shot them his usual charming smile, giving them both a once over.

"Hello, Noel. So.. it's looking decent so far. Better not find any disappointments inside," Alison winked and walked inside with Hanna.

Noel smirked and craned his neck to the two blondes walking inside.

* * *

Two hours into the party, each of the girls were drunk and were separated around the house. Emily never left Aria's side ever since they had arrived and were currently seated with other two seniors who they had never spoken to before. The conversation flowed easy with the alcohol they had consumed and there wasn't any pressure on either of the girls. Both guys, unfortunately had no idea both girls weren't really interested in them despite their flirtatious banter. A little flirting never hurt anyone in the first place, the thought crossed Emily's mind. Emily found the conversation was becoming slightly boring and was getting tired of stringing the guys along, heck, she was sure they didn't even know she was gay and with that, she excused herself to go to the bathroom.

"I'll come with. Bye, boys," Aria winked at them and followed Emily to the bathroom.

"Aria, you have a boyfriend," Emily laughed.

"It's only flirting, what Ezra doesn't know can't hurt him anyway," Aria shrugged.

"That's so unlike you," Emily eyed her as she pushed open the bathroom door, luckily seeing it was empty.

"You're only young once, Em," Aria closed the door behind them.

Emily smirked at the comment, "And that's your excuse for flirting? Aria, people of any age can flirt."

"Okay.. so? Beauty fades," Aria caught Emily's in the mirror and saw nothing but amusement on her face.

"Are you just gonna stand there and watch me pee?"

"Sure, it's nothing I haven't seen before," she replied nonchalantly.

Emily slightly stumbled as she lifted her dress not exactly caring Aria was in the room. Aria ran her fingers through her hair, fixing it.

"Done?" Aria turned around just as Emily flushed the toilet.

"Done," Emily confirmed.

The pair left the bathroom and wandered through to the kitchen for more drinks. Before they stepped foot into the kitchen, Emily caught sight of a familiar blonde sat on some older guy's lap whispering something in his ear. Of course when Emily got a better view when she turned their face, it turned out to be Ali; the person she expected yet that didn't prevent the heart wrenching feeling. Aria also halted when she saw where Emily's eyes were focused. All Emily could do was stare, feeling like her feet had been cemented to the ground. She watched the interaction between the two, watching the way Alison clumsily ran her fingers through his hair, the way she peppered him with light kisses just beside his ear. Of course Emily knew Alison would never change her ways for no one, this guy was just someone else Alison could leave to pine after her.

Aria broke Emily out of her thoughts by attempting to nudging her away but Emily never budged. Emily yanked her arm from Aria's grip with ease, being that she had a lot more strength than the smaller girl and swiped the bottle of vodka that lay on the counter.

"Em.." Aria started.

Emily cut her sentence short, "Save it, Aria. This is a party, remember?" she quirked her eyebrow and walked towards the living room.

When Emily and Aria re-entered, they looked back at the spot they had been previously sitting and noticed the same two guys with smug looks on both their faces. Neither of the girls were honestly sure if they wanted to barf or run. Nevertheless, Emily took a swig of vodka and approached them with Aria following suit.

"Miss me?" Emily laughed, causing Aria to frown at her.

"Maybe a little."

Aria was at a loss for words at Emily's behavior especially since Emily had never shown any interest in any guy and here she was practically throwing herself at one. She just wished Spencer, Toby or even Hanna could swoop in and help her out here. Thinking of Hanna, Aria recalled she hadn't even seen Hanna at all tonight and she knew Alison wouldn't show up to a party alone. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for either of her friends but failed to notice any of them. Emily had just taken another gulp of vodka and Aria could do nothing but worry.

Luckily, Hanna had just trudged into the living room hand in hand with Caleb and Aria silently begged for her to look her way in order to make Emily come to her senses. Fortunately for Aria, it was as if Hanna read her mind and her eyes landed on the pair with a look of confusion on her face until she noticed the bottle of vodka in Emily's hand. Her and Caleb exchanged a look and approached the pair.

"What is she doing!?" Hanna leaned down to Aria.

"Long story. Just help me," Aria pleaded.

Hanna took action right away by grabbing the vodka away from Emily, causing her to jerk her head away from the handsome guy Hanna recognized. Emily frowned upon seeing Hanna and Caleb glaring at her, clearly too drunk to realize the reason for their expressions.

"Give me that back," she demanded.

"Emily, come with me. You too," Hanna insisted, referring to Aria.

With Emily being way too drunk at this point, Hanna and Aria managed to pull her to her feet as both guys frowned at them.

"Shame on you both. And by the way, she's _gay,_ " Hanna spat at them, pointing to Emily and walked outside.

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Hanna quizzed.

"She saw Alison cuddling up to some guy and I guess she just got really jealous and couldn't handle it?" Aria explained with a questioning tone.

"_Jealous_? You think I'm jealous? I'm not jealous, I'm hurt, Aria. Do you know what it's like to watch the person you love doing.. shit.. or something with someone else?"

"Yeah, Em. I'm pretty sure-"

Aria's sentence was cut short by Emily's voice, "No. Do you know what she did for me last week?" Emily crossed her arms, slightly swaying.

"What, Em?" Hanna asked.

"She sent me _flowers_! Yes, flowers! These real fucking beautiful roses and I thought she was being sincere with me for once."

"She sent you flowers?" Aria raised her brow, finding difficulty in believing Emily.

"Yes, Aria, flowers. Do you know what the card said? It said 'sorry'. Sorry for _what_? Sorry you finally came to your senses? It's all bullshit, Alison is a joke. In fact, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to kill her," Emily stated and made a move to barge past Aria and Hanna only to he pushed back by Aria.

"Okay," Hanna cleared her throat. "Emily, you need to calm down. You don't want to kill Alison, this is the alcohol talking, not you. I get that you're mad and you're far too drunk so I'm calling you a cab and taking you home," Hanna informed her calmly, careful not to push any more of Emily's buttons.

"I'm not going home and you're not calling me a cab, you don't own me. I'm not a child. I'm going to break Ali's heart just like she broke mine, you'll see," Emily smirked.

"Okay.. I'm going to get you a glass of water. Come on," Hanna linked her arm with Emily's and she entered the cabin. Aria and Caleb followed behind, having no idea how to react to Emily's drunken state. Luckily when Aria entered the kitchen, she noticed Alison and the older guy had drifted to another room.

Hanna sat Emily down at the table and grabbed a glass from it while Aria took a seat beside Emily and Caleb standing beside awkwardly, not sure what to do. Hanna handed Emily the water and hefted a long sigh.

Emily wasted no time in drinking the water, finishing it within 2 minutes and thudding the glass down on the table, "Finished. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay. Do you want me to come with?" Hanna asked, gripping onto her elbow as she stood up.

"I can go on my own," Emily snapped and staggered off with the three pair of eyes on her.

"I've never seen Emily so hostile," Caleb commented.

"She's just hurt and acting out.. The drink isn't exactly helping," Aria sighed.

"Aria, call a cab. She can't stay here much longer," Hanna ordered.

"Okay," Aria left the kitchen and went outdoors to drown out the sound of the music.

A couple of minutes had passed and Emily still hadn't returned from the bathroom so Hanna had left to go check on her. Once Hanna reached the bathroom, she straight away noticed Emily probably hadn't gone in the first place.

"Emily?" Hanna called loudly over the music blaring from the surround system, spinning on her heel.

She cautiously wandered through the cabin, looking in every room she passed until someone had drunkenly bumped into her, spilling some drink on her dress.

"Jesus," she whined and looked up, meeting Alison's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Hanna! Shit, let me get this cleaned for you," Alison joined their fingers only for Hanna to pull away.

Hanna's frustration passed when she realized she would probably never wear this dress again after tonight, "No, just forget it. There's more important things to worry about."

"Like?" Alison prompted.

"Like trying to find Emily! Who is also mad at you, by the way. That's the reason she's missing."

"Emily's missing?" The color drained from Alison's face.

Hanna's mouth twitched, "Not _missing_ missing but I can't find her. She's had a full bottle of vodka so she's incredibly drunk right now."

"Why is she mad at me? Apart from the obvious?"

"Apparently she saw you canoodling with some guy and she was just hurt."

"Oh God," Alison buried her face in her hands, "Let's find her. You go check the living room, I'll check around here."

"I don't think she really wants to see you right now, Ali. She threatened to kill you earlier," Hanna let out a laugh.

"I hardly think she's going to kill me if she's really that drunk. Go," Alison pushed her in the direction of the living room.

Hanna and Alison both wandered frantically around the cabin. Picking Emily was almost impossible due to the people that flooded the place, for all they knew, Emily could be passed out somewhere. Aria met Caleb back in the kitchen where she found him pouring himself a drink and cringing when he got a taste of it.

"Strong, huh?" Aria laughed and poured one for herself.

Caleb stuck his tongue out, revolted by the taste, "Yeah."

"So, I thought you were in Ravenswood for another week?"

"I wanted to surprise Hanna. Think it's safe to say she was that," he smiled.

"That was nice of you. I know she really missed you."

"I missed her too," he offered sincerely.

"How long has Hanna been gone?" Aria asked, glancing around.

"A few minutes, gone to look for Emily."

Aria nodded and took a sip from her cup.

* * *

After looking in the bathroom, living room and outdoors, Alison was at a loss of where to look for Emily and was becoming more anxious with each passing minute. She pushed open a door to a room at the back of the cabin, assuming it was a bedroom and poked her head in to find none other than Emily.

"Em?" she asked with a shaky voice.


End file.
